Classmates of Hell
by haretikers
Summary: Naruto believes friends means popularity. Ino knows better. "To be cool you have to step on a few of your friends, just be sure you don't step on yourself". The #1 rule of the game? Mask your emotions and don't fall for the target. Easy enough, right?
1. Read The Signs

**Title:** Classmates of Hell

**Full Summary:** To be cool you have to step on a few of your friends, just be sure you don't step on yourself. Knowing this, Naruto would rather stay a fool but he had a dream and to accomplish it he realized he needed to be popular enough to become the class president. Problem was Ino was already the class president and she wasn't planning on giving up her position anytime soon, especially without a fight.

**Main Pairing: **You'll have to read to find out with who Naruto ends up (meaning that you shouldn't take the two main characters of this story as a dead giveaway). And although other pairing will be hinted he will only go into relationship with one person.

**A/N:** I plan in making good use of all the characters. Heheh, there is no way I'll write a Naruto fanfic without having my shy little Hinata, my homicidal Gaara and without Neji's verbal assaults' a.k.a. verbal abuse about people's fate.

**A/N2: **Ino will mostly rule the odd numbered chapters. Except for this one because I need to present Naruto.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _NARUTO_, Kishimoto does. If I did, we would already have way more back-story on Kushina Uzumaki.

-x-x-(Because humanity only knows it's wrong once they done it themselves, not before)-x-x

**Chapter One: "Read the Signs"**

"Kakashi-sensei… he's late again," sighed the messy blond known as Naruto. The Social Studies class was supposed to have started at nine o'clock. It was already fifteen minutes since then.

Said blond spaced out for a couple of minutes before deciding that patience was not his thing.

Glancing to his right he saw Shikamaru dozing off while Chouji munched on his curry-flavored potato chips. The blond was more than sure Iruka-sensei had once said that eating and sleeping during class was against school rules but seeing as class has not actually started due to the apparent absence of the teacher who – _wait, what hour is it now? NINE THIRTY?_ – hasn't showed up.

Normally when a teacher was late it was the job of the class' president to lead his/her classmates towards higher academic learning. Yet this was so not the case here on account that the current class president was too busy fangirling over a brooding Uchiha. Not that this surprised Naruto any, everyone knew class elections were just another way to clarify who was more popular. It had nothing to do with work efficiency.

Still, he couldn't blame Ino Yamanaka for being elected class president. Unlike the stereotypical blonde princesses, Ino's eyes weren't exactly blue but people just said they were to save themselves the trouble of describing them. But aside from that she had a body all the girls were jealous of and all the guys wanted to touch. Every curve, every edge, every part of her perfectly sculpted body was to die for. Especially since the outfits she wore left little to the imagination. And she always wore mostly purple since apparently it makes her freakishly long blonde hair stand out more. Plus she always seemed to have a natural tan on. Naruto also liked the sunglasses she always wore over her head with the little heart sticker on the bottom left of the lens.

Sure, Ino wasn't as perfect as Sakura (in Naruto's mind) but his male genetic coding couldn't deny Ino's body was sizzling hot, hot, hot!

Still the only flower Naruto Uzumaki wanted to hold was named Sakura Haruno.

To some Sakura was just another Sasuke-fangirl. To the others she was just a shorter, less hot, more aggressive, less popular (a.k.a. vice-president) version of Ino but with a twist. Seeing as Sakura had a higher IQ and a big-ass forehead. Yet Sakura also had an air of mystery seeing as no one knew what her real hair color was. It couldn't really be pink, right?

But Naruto convinced himself that only he was able to see Sakura for what she really was. Unlike Ino who simply desired that people admitted how hot she was, Sakura simply wanted to be acknowledged by the person she cared the most. THAT was something Naruto could related to, THAT was something he understood clearly, THAT was why he loved her, THAT's why to him she could only be described as one thing. Beautiful.

"Hand off, forehead!" Ino yelled to her rival, "Sasuke-kun doesn't like girls with artificial hair color," she snide teasingly letting her flawless purple finger nails roam through her platinum blonde hair all the way down to her perfectly sized bosom, "he likes it natural."

Tons of other Sasuke-fangirls nodded in agreement with Ino.

"Say what you want Ino-pig but what MY Sasuke-kun doesn't like are people with… with… people with blonde hair!" Sakura retorted, her emerald eyes quickly scanning the classroom for ammunition she could use against Ino. That's when her eyes landed on Naruto, who upon her gaze quickly grinned like a happy idiot and waved at her.

"**_Ammunition found! Hell Yeah!" _**Inner Sakura roared enthusiastically.

"Face it Ino-pig," the pink haired vixen sneered with bitchy arrogance, "Why do you think he hates Naruto so much."

The other half of Sasuke's fangirls nodded in agreement. Naruto's grin turned into a pout. Ino looked shocked.

"He… he doesn't hate blondes," and to prove her point she leaned into Sasuke's desk, tactically giving him a clear view of her cleavage. _That oh so clever banshee! _"Right Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke Uchiha, who always sat in a brooding way (with is hands crossed) at a desk near the window, was busy watching a spider feed off a butterfly that hopelessly tried to escape when all too suddenly he felt something or someone invade his personal space. In less than a second his eyes traveled forth and back to Ino's and concluded that she was waiting for some sort of answer from him. He dismissively said "hn" and proceeded to stare at how the butterfly's last seconds of life were greedily stolen by the spider. The Uchiha was smirking when he imagined his brother Itachi to be said butterfly.

Imagination rocks.

Immediately the fangirls started arguing over what Sasuke could have possibly meant when he "Hn" them.

"_What's so cool about that bastard anyways?" _Naruto wandered bitterly.

Sasuke Uchiha was broody, pale looking, dark haired and a total emo. Sometimes Naruto could swear the Uchiha's dark eyes glowed red. Just like a vampire. Sure, Sasuke was considered to be top of the class both in academics and sports. But so was Neji Hyuuga. Plus in Naruto's mind Sasuke was kind of a psycho.

The blond distinctly remembered a winter when they were both eight years old. The raven haired Uchiha had built a snowman that sort of looked like his elder brother Itachi. And every day the little Uchiha would sit on a bench to stare at his 'Itachi'.

Everybody assumed it was because Sasuke had great admiration for Itachi but Naruto knew better. Why? Because he was there to witness with his blue eyes how Sasuke had maliciously smirked when the heat set in. Naruto had seen the way the dark eyes of Sasuke glimmered with anticipation? Satisfaction? Accomplishment? Whatever it was Sasuke had it as he watched 'Itachi' melting away oh so painfully slow. His limb falling off one by one until 'Itachi' was nothing more than a puddle of water. A puddle in which the Uchiha swiftly started bouncing on with mucho gusto.

Heck, Sasuke has even openly admitted his dream to - no – his ambition to kill his elder brother. Shouldn't that confession be enough to ward off his fangirl? Who would want to be the wife of someone who has no qualms about killing a family member? And they said Naruto was dense, pfft… fangirls.

Yet watching Sakura fight for the one she care the most inspired Naruto to do the same, so filled with renowned confidence he approached his crush and said in a warm and friendly voice, "Hey Sakura-chan, how about you forget about Sasuke-bastard and be my girlf-"

But he was cut off when his crush dismissively shoved him back to his desk and continued to obsess about Sasuke.

"_Darn, it's always Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke! Maybe I just got her at a bad time." _He concluded. Speaking of time, when his eyes strayed to the clock he yelled, "NINE FIFTY?!"

That does it. The only reason they were all still in the classroom was because Kakashi-sensei said he had an important announcement to make. But enough is enough. Naruto Uzumaki was taking matters into his own hands.

Grabbing the chalk eraser with one hand he placed it over the barely closed door and smirked at how good his prank would be. The number one most unpredictable knuckleheaded student of Konoha High was ready to give his teacher his long due payback.

"Naruto, you moron," barked a brunet with red triangular tattoos on his cheeks. It was no other than the always brash and in your face Kiba Inuzuka. "Seesh Naruto, as if a high school teacher is going to fall for an elementary school prank."

At this Akamaru barked to support what his owner had said. Again, Naruto was sure he once had heard Iruka-sensei say something about how bringing pets to school was against school policy but if the others didn't complain neither would Naruto.

"Can it dog-breath, I'll show you," Naruto assured, nodding to himself in agreement.

"Listen up, Fox-boy," Kiba sneered back, "The chances of Kakashi-sensei falling for that prank are the same as your stupid dream of becoming the president of this country."

At that everybody started laughing at the blond's expense. Well, not everybody but the vast majority did. Some even started jeering about how stupid that dream was and how he should just give up on it. But none of it deterred the young president hopeful. It didn't matter that everybody always underestimated him. He would just have to prove them wrong. So until then he'll just ignore the harsh comments the others said.

"Naruto, you idiot, who would ever vote for you for president?" Sakura snide at her friend, hoping Sasuke would notice her in the process.

"Ouch," that hurt Naruto's ego a lot. He could never ignore Sakura-chan's words.

Everybody started laughing again at Naruto's deflated expression until Neji scoffed loudly and ran his fingers through his long and silky hair. "I believe Naruto Uzumaki has as much chance as anyone else to become the president."

After a moment of silence Naruto held his fist up to the air, his stupid-happy grin reforming into his dazzling face. Neji was one of the smartest people Naruto knew so if the Hyuuga genius believed in Naruto then anything was possible.

"Troublesome Naruto," yawned Shikamaru, using his sleeves to clear out the sleep from his eyes. "Neji didn't compliment you."

"Huh?" Naruto gaped dumbfounded, giving his full attention to the lazy Nara.

"Neji said you had as much chance as anyone else to become the president."

"Yeah, I heard him."

"How many people are there, Naruto?"

"Uh…?"

"Let's say six billion, Naruto, six billion."

"…so?"

"How many of them become president?"

"Eh… oh I know this one. One every four years!"

"Exactly," Shikamaru Nara lectured, "Neji said that you had 1/6,000,000,000 chance in the world of becoming president."

"…"

"What a drag," Shikamaru sighed, seeing how futile it was to explain math to his blonde classmate, "Basically your chances are next to nothing."

"…WHAT?!" Naruto fumed and again everybody started laughing. Ignoring them, Naruto marched up to Neji and scowled at him, "Come and say it to my face!"

"Galdly," Neji scoffed coldly before turning his demoralizing eyes on the blonde, "Only a handful of people are capable of becoming that of which you speak. A loser such as yourself will never have that opportunity. Your place is that of a cashier; it's impossible to change your fate once it's been decided."

"You think you are better than me? Your attitude is worst than Sasuke's!"

"No, in said comparison I am one step ahead of the Uchiha in every way. I am better than him and I'm better than you, loser." The long haired brunet announced calmly, his voice leaving no room for doubts.

"Screw you, Neji!" Naruto swore as he grabbed Neji by the collar. "Stop calling me a loser, you have no idea what my life has been."

"I don't particularly share interest about your past, Uzumaki. But I will not stop referring to you as a loser, because you will always be one; that is your fate."

Allowing himself some time to breath, Neji's all seeing eyes studied Naruto up and down, "Your fate is chosen at birth and cannot be changed by the will of any man. You will forever be destined for a life of mediocrity."

Naruto glared with pure hatred at the Hyuuga, but Neji did not waver, he simply continued his verbal assault, "A loser like you has no chance of defeating a genius such as myself; you'll have better chance winning a game of fetch against the Inuzuka. Now go away, trash, I will not lose this debate; even considering it will be such a waste of my talent."

Naruto raised his fist to beat some sense into the Hyyuga but instead ended up being launched to the trash can. Neji on the other hand calmly ran his fingers through his luscious hair again. He didn't bear a guilty conscious since in retrospect all he had done was thrown the trash into the garbage.

Naruto was about to stand for another round against Neji when suddenly clouds of chalk dust invaded the classroom. It took a moment for the cloud to fade away and for the student to realize what had actually transpired. It was clear when they saw the figure of Kakashi-sensei covered in white dust.

"In your face!" Naruto chuckled loudly pointing at Kiba, "I am so going to be president. Believe it!"

Everyone stared in awe. Except Hinata Hyuuga who was very happy that Naruto had proven the other wrong. She wasn't particularly happy that it was Kiba Inuzuka who had been proven wrong, seeing as whenever the class had to be divided in groups for a certain assignment Kiba would always invite her on his team. Thanks to him and Shino, she had never been on the awkward position of being the only one in class without a team. Still, she was happy for Naruto.

Kakashi-sensei however, wasn't as pleased.

"Yo," he said pulling out his little orange book cleverly entitled Icha Icha Paradise. The article mention was a pornographic novel that, again, Naruto was sure Iruka-sensei had said to be against school policy. But apparently teachers were above the rules. The blond was about to voice this but Kakashi-sensei spoke up first.

"Seeing as class is almost over and noticing that instead of studying on your free time you spent it planning pranks, for tomorrow you will read chapter 15 and 16 and will be tested on it tomorrow. See ya" and with that, he left.

Everybody glared hard at the blond as they made their way out to their other classes. But only one of them actually extended a hand to the blond currently on the floor next to the trash can.

"Sa… Sasuke?" Naruto wondered as he stared up to see the Uchiha looking away yet his hand still extended to the blond, "Sasuke, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? Loser."

"Hmph! Well I don't need you help," Naruto retorted, standing up by himself to prove his point.

"Hn," the Uchiha responded, raising his extended hand to clear the strands of his raven hair away from his line of vision, an action that had his fangirls swooning after him almost immediately.

Naruto didn't get it though. What was so special about Sasuke's hair? It looked like a chicken's butt. The blond quickly shrugged it off as something only girls could see.

"Come on loser," the Uchiha said casually walking away, "We are lab partners on our next class, remember? I don't want Mr. Orochimaru giving us 'special' attention again for being late."

"I'm not a loser," Naruto muttered under his breath but Sasuke caught it.

Mentally smacking himself for what he was about to do, the brooding Uchiha said, "And about your dream, I think is possible, but how about you try with something small first like becoming class president. Think of it as training for the future."

Soon before he even knew it he had Naruto grinning ear to ear, taking him by the wrist and sprinting off with him, "Let go Sasuke-bastard, we don't want to be late for class."

A small smile escaped Sasuke as the unpredictable blonde's confidence boosted back up in a matter of seconds. The fangirls however seethed at the sight. Their precious Sasuke only smiled when he was with Naruto. But Naruto never noticed this fact, pfft… and he dared called the fangirls "dense".

**-x-x-(End of Chapter One: "Read the Signs")-x-x-**

**A/N: **Well that's it for now. I'll update the next chapter in a week, probably. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Oh, and if you have a suggestions for what Sasuke's next "1000 ways to imagine the death of Itachi" then please tell me and if I like it I'll incorporate it to the story.


	2. Misleading Attention

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _NARUTO_ because if I did TenTen would have a surname.

**A/N: **In this chapter I'll focus on who will be Naruto's wingman because seriously the whiskered blond will need someone to back him up with the CANNON NaruSasuSaku hints.

-x-x-(Because its human nature to complicate things)-x-x-

_**Recap:**_

"_I'm not a loser," Naruto muttered under his breath but Sasuke caught it._

_Mentally smacking himself for what he was about to do, the brooding Uchiha said, "And about your dream, I think is possible, but how about you try with something small first like becoming class president. Think of it as training for the future."_

_Soon before he even knew it he had Naruto grinning ear to ear, taking him by the wrist and sprinting off with him, "Let go Sasuke-bastard, we don't want to be late for class."_

_A small smile escaped Sasuke as the unpredictable blonde's confidence boosted back up in a matter of seconds. The fangirls however seethed at the sight. Their precious Sasuke only smiled when he was with Naruto. But Naruto never noticed this fact, pfft… and he dared called the fangirls "dense"._

**Chapter Two: "Misleading Attention"**

Lab wasn't really that hard. Heck, it should've been a breeze. All the students of Konoha High had to do was weight some of this, mix some of that, measure here, heat over there, take some notes, make calculations if needed and come up with a conclusion.

It really wasn't _that_ hard.

But the language, the freaking language

Why the heck did science had to come up with different names for common things? What? Did having a doctoral degree forbid them from referring to H20 as water?

Sure, Naruto knew the scientific term for water was H20. He was not _that_ dumb, give him some credit. But this? THIS?

What the hell is NaCl2?

"Dobe, I'm still waiting," said the brooding Uchiha uninterestedly. The raven haired teen could care less about the experiment but that was to be expected of him. He hated a lot of things and didn't particularly like anything. But still, he was doing most of the project so the least Naruto could do was search for the chemicals.

Naruto knew this as well and that's why he was growing frustrated every time he lifted a bottle in hopes of finding one labeled NaCl2, but to no avail. It didn't help either that the whiskered blond had no idea what NaCl2 was.

It royally sucked, half an hour ago Sasuke had actually acknowledged Naruto's dream. And that alone had the blond prankster in high spirits. And now he was sure Sasuke would think otherwise. Still, even if it hurt his ego, he turned around to the broody teen to ask for help.

"Um…"

The Uchiha, still looking like he rather be somewhere else, preferably trying to kill a certain someone, or so Naruto assumed, turned to the unnerving blond and said, "It means Sodium Chloride, dead last, now go get it."

Sodium Chloride? Well that sure helped clear things out. What the heck is Sodium Chloride?

Going again to different tables in search of a bottle labeled 'Sodium Chloride', the blond sighed dejectedly when he still couldn't find it.

"Hn," the Uchiha offered as he reached for the table salt in front of him and poured it with the rest of the chemicals. Again, before Naruto could say anything, the raven haired teen voiced, "Sodium Chloride is basically table salt, don't you pay attention to class, dumbass?"

That's when it finally occurred to the blond that all this time the thing he had searching for was on their table all along, within arms reach. Not only that but the Uchiha had known this from the very start yet preferred to watch the blond struggle instead. And finally, after witnessing that –I'm the student of the year while you are just the dead last- smirk, Naruto's blood boiled.

Okay, so maybe Naruto didn't know the scientific term of table salt but he sure as hell knew what the scientific term for Sasuke Uchiha was.

JERK! ASSHOLE! BASTARD!

"You… you… YOU BASTARD!" the Uzumaki recoiled, grabbing the Uchiha-bastard by the collar, readying to land a punch on his flawless Uchiha face.

All the girls gasped as this happened but Naruto's fist was stopped by none other that Mr. Orochimaru.

"kukukuku….," chuckled the tall and slender lab teacher, applying moist to his lips with his tongue, "is something troubling you two?"

Naruto gulped at the sight of his Lab teacher so close to him but Sasuke simply shrugged and proceeded with the experiment. Mr. Orochimaru noticed that his prized student kept applying and mixing chemicals without measuring them first.

"Sasuke-kun…" said the white skinned teacher, shoving Naruto aside to pay more attention to the desirable Uchiha, "Should you be mixing chemicals so recklessly?"

"Hn," was all Sasuke offered as the whole class stopped what they were doing to gawk at the raven-haired teen. Well the girls, and some of the guys, gawk. The rest were simply leering. Except Shino, one can never tell what's going on behind his dark glasses.

Finally after using the Buchner method of filtration, Sasuke Uchiha presented Mr. Orochimaru the biggest and purest crystals any student had ever produced in class.

Then Sasuke explained, "I quickly realized in this experiment that although table salt was mostly NaCl2 it also contained other impurities. Thankfully said compound could be easily dissolved, and adding other chemicals at a certain temperature I managed to dissociate the positive charged ions and anions required for the effectiveness of this experiment. So after I centrifuged what I needed, I proceed with the experiment. As you can see the product exceeded your expectations because I cleared the impurities."

To say Mr. Orochimaru was impressed would be the understatement of the year, he was ecstatic.

"Sasuke-kun… kukuku…" the teacher hissed, seductively? Licking his lips in a full circular motion and he placed both his hands on his student's shoulders, "There is no detail your eyes can overlook, is there?"

_*cough* "pedophile!"*cough*_

Mr. Orochimaru's head snapped back, clearly breaking some sort of sound barrier as his snake-like yellow eyes roam the classroom, in search of the student who dared called him out. When he didn't find him/her, he focused his attention back to his prized student.

"Hn," Sasuke said, "It doesn't matter what I do, if I focus on the outcome it will turn into a reality. No matter what path I take."

Hissing in Sasuke's ear, the teacher continued, "Such perfect coordination you have, Sasuke-kun, kukuku… If I were reborn I would like it to be in your body."

_*cough* "pedophile!"*cough*_

This time Mr. Orochimaru caught Kiba coughing but paid it no heed, opting to return to Sasuke.

"kukuku, Sasuke-kun, your skills are so advance I might even consider taking you apart from the class for some _individual_ education,"

_*cough* "pedophile!"*cough*cough*_

By this time Kiba was coughing loudly while Shino pretended to pat him in the back. This made Naruto snicker as he tried to stifle his laughter. The moment the smile appeared on the blonde's face, another smile –albeit to a lesser degree- appeared on Sasuke.

Mr. Orochimaru noticed this very well and wondered if it was because of the blond idiot that Sasuke always refused to move up to another grade. The prospect of it enraged the snake-like teacher since this was the very first time he had seen _Sasuke-kun_ smile.

Gritting his teeth, the teacher returned to his desk and allowed the student to continue their activities.

Since there were still like an hour left of class, and Naruto and Sasuke had basically finished their experiment, Naruto spaced out, absentmindedly eating the dumplings Sakura had given him.

-x-x-flashback-x-x-

It was during lunchroom that the pink haired vixen had approached the knucklehead student. With a sweet smile she asked him if they could talk in private. So after willing down the heavy blush that appeared on his face, he happily obliged.

She presented him with a box of dumplings once they were alone, and Naruto quickly stuffed his mouth with them. It tasted horrible and frankly it looked like crap, and smelled like it too. And it left this weird sensation in Naruto mouth, like little heavy chunks. It almost felt like if he had vomited or something.

Still, if his Sakura-chan had done this for him then nothing else mattered. It was heaven. So after telling her that he was happy with it, she pumped a fist to the air and yelled, "CHA!"

"Hell Yeah," she said cheerfully, pulling her silky smooth hair out of the way of her beautiful emerald eyes, "I can't wait 'til I give Sasuke-kun the dumplings I made for him, after classes of course."

And with that, the pink-haired student left without sparing a second glance to the sulking blonde. Yeah, Naruto had been used as a guinea pig by Sakura… again.

-x-x-end of flashback-x-x-

Finally lab was over but before Naruto could stand, Sasuke had flung a notebook to his whiskered face, "Here dobe," Sasuke said causally, "study my notes so that you won't drag me down next time."

And with that, the Uchiha left.

The nerve! Naruto was seething now. Not only had Naruto and Sasuke finished the experiment first but they also had the best results. True, the experiment was mostly done by Sasuke but still. They were already the number one pair in the lab. What's bigger than number one? And still Sasuke had the audacity to tell Naruto he was dragging him down?

The nerve of that guy.

But before the blonde could give Sasuke a piece of his mind, Mr. Orochimaru spoke up.

"Uzumaki…. Inuzuka…" the teacher hissed, sending shivers down the spine of both Naruto and Kiba, respectively, "Go to room a-207, you have detention."

"_Snake-bastard!"_ Naruto thought.

There was something about Mr. Orochimaru that always unnerved Naruto. That's why he never called the teacher "Orochimaru-sensei". Maybe it was the combination of his white skin and long dark greenish hair. Maybe it was his yellow eyes. Maybe it was the way he snuck up on students, invading their personal space and hissing on their ears like a snake. Or maybe it was the preferential treatment Sasuke received.

Whatever the case was, Naruto didn't like it.

"Oi, fox-boy," the shaggy haired brunet waved, tossing his arm around the mentioned blond, "I guess it's you and me now, ne?" He then turned to the girls that were still there and said, "Sorry girls, you'll have to wait in line but I'm free tomorrow if you want a date."

The girls just rolled their eyes at him while Naruto just raised a blond brow at how casually Kiba had placed his left arm over the blonde's shoulder like if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Dismissing it from his mind, the blond let himself be dragged to detention, still wondering how Kiba managed to bring his dog Akamaru to school and not be in trouble for it.

At detention, Naruto and Kiba noticed all too quickly that they were the only ones there. Then, fifteen minutes later, a stylish looking student entered the room, wearing some loose jeans, a dark gray turtle neck sweater that hid the lower part of his face, on top of it he wore a dark long-sleeved green jacket, leaving the hoodie on. To finish it off, the student had his dark glasses on. Meaning that just about every inch of his skin was hidden from the human eye.

The student was of course Shino Aburame.

The second Shino sat down on the teacher's desk and placed a tag where "DETENTION" was visible in red letters, the aura around him changed from casual to professional.

"_So Shino is in charge of us today,"_ thought a grinning blonde, thrilled by how lucky he was. It made sense that the teachers would trust Shino with this duty; after all, Shino was an honor student. Too bad the teachers didn't take into account that Shino and Kiba were best friends.

"Hehehe," snickered the whiskered teen, taking hold of his messenger bag as he waved goodbye to Shino and Kiba, "Later guys!"

"Not so fast, Uzumaki," murmured the Aburame as his hand forced Naruto back to his seat, "detention is not over."

"What?" Naruto asked confused, "But Kiba is your buddy! You are not going to keep us here in detention, are you?"

"I have been assigned to this task and I will do what must be done." Shino said matter-o-factly, returning to the teacher's desk.

"But," Naruto sputtered but Shino cut him off.

"I hate having to repeat myself," said the shades wearing teen in a barely audible yet still commanding voice. "I HAVE been ASSIGNED to this task and I WILL do what MUST be done."

"But."

"I have been assigned to this task and I will do what must be done." Shino repeated again, leaving no room for discussion.

Turning to Kiba, the blonde asked, "How can you hang around Shino all the time?"

The shaggy haired brunet simply shrugged and answered, "you'll get use to it."

Naruto glared at the mysterious glint on Shino's dark glasses before muttering, "fun-sucker", and then something about how Iruka-sensei had once said that wearing shades during class was impolite.

After twenty minutes of simply yawing, the two usually rowdy teens stared at Shino who had not moved an inch since he spoke last. Was Shino still keeping an eye on them or was he sleeping? No one could really tell.

Finally deciding to do something productive with his time, Naruto opened his messenger bag and pulled out the notebook Sasuke had lent him. "Might as well study," he muttered to himself but once he opened said notebook his eyes fell upon something weird on the corner of the pages.

"Sasuke… doodles?" Naruto asked in disbelieve, absentmindedly gaining the attention of Kiba. The doodles were on all the pages.

Upon further inspection, the blond noticed that one of the doodles had a chicken butt hairstyle while the other doodle was taller and had to vertical expression lines on its face. A doodle of Sasuke and Itachi respectively.

Already dreading what it was, Naruto closed the notebook and the flipped through the pages rapidly. Just like in film-like animation, Naruto got to see how _'Sasuke'_ held his hand out and electricity started to form in it. Naruto also noticed the "chi chi chi" sound effects Sasuke had scribbled down. Then, as _'Sasuke'_ started running, bat wings in the shape of two hands appeared on his back. Soon a flying _'Sasuke'_ impaled his electrified hand on _'Itachi's'_ chest. In the next scene _'Sasuke'_ had the head of _'Itachi'_ in his hand. The scribbled sound effects of dripping blond accompanying said image.

"That's fuck up, man," Kiba voiced, his head resting on Naruto's shoulder as he eyed the doodles.

"_Wait a minute?" _Naruto thought, _"did dog-breath just agreed that Sasuke is fucked up?"_

"Tch," the brunet shrugged, "I don't get how a guy like that has that many fangirls. Heck, I deserve some fangirls." Saying this, the brunet turned to the blonde and asked, "Oi, Naruto, how come I don't have fangirls?"

Naruto paled at the question but he had a pretty good idea of why Kiba didn't have girls fighting over him. The red triangular tattoos on the brunet's cheeks. Sure, Naruto thought they were cool but those tattoos were a family thing. The girls were simply scared that they might have to tattoo their faces if they ever fell in love with Kiba. And we all know how vain girls can be when it comes to their faces.

Plus it probably didn't help that anyone who had facebook could see exclusive pics of Kiba eating dog food. Still, Kiba couldn't see the reason why he didn't have fangirls.

"I mean," the tattooed teen continued, "look at me, I'm hot. Heck," he said grabbing Naruto to stand by his side, "I think we two are extremely hot. And we have a manlier built than that Uchiha-brat. Right Shino?"

If this was an anime, Shino would have sweat-dropped. Because it wasn't, Shino opted to simply ignore the question of the always brash Kiba Inuzuka.

"Well what would you know," Kiba scowled at Shino, "I'll ask Hinata later,"

Though Kiba already knew the answer to that one. Naruto never noticed because he was way too focused on Sakura but there were in fact girls with crushes on the blonde. Hinata Hyuuga being one of them.

Naruto was somewhat puzzled that Kiba, who had insulted him at Kakashi-sensei's class, was now standing beside the blonde as if they were friends. This made the blond want to ask something of the brunet.

"Hey, Kiba…" Naruto started, not sure if he would like to hear the answer, "if I said that I wanted to be class president next year, would you vote for me?"

"Eh?" Caught off-guard by the question, Kiba stared at the blonde, searching for anything that would suggest this was a joke. When he found none, he asked, "Is this to impress Sakura?"

"N-No," Naruto blushed but then turned serious, "I just realized that if I want to achieve my goal I have to start it small. Winning over my classmates to be elected class president will prove good training. And I'll prove to everyone how good I really am."

Kiba scowled at the answer and responded in accusation, "So you want to become class president just so you can brag about it?"

"No!" Naruto quickly retorted, "I want people to be able to admire me, respect me, and depend on me. I just want to be a good friend and help others out."

"Hmmm," Kiba hummed before patting Akamaru on the head, "So what's your take on it, Akamaru?" receiving a bark from his dog, Kiba turned to Naruto and answered, "I could vote for you but you still won't be president."

"Because I'm not popular enough, right?" the blonde asked, clearly pouting. This made Kiba laugh a little and as on cue, Sakura Haruno stormed in with a basket full of dumplings. The killer intent she emitted was enough to even make Shino weary.

"NARUTO, YOU IDIOT!" she yelled, throwing the basket at Naruto's head. "Sasuke-kun said he hated sweet things and even called me annoying!" she continued yelling like if it was Naruto's fault that Sasuke didn't have a sweet tooth. With that she slammed the door shut and left.

Shino then stood and said, "Detention is over, you may leave."

Was Shino scared of Sakura?

Neither Kiba nor Naruto needed to be told twice that they could leave. Once outside, Kiba noticed that there were still girls around and also noticed that Naruto was carrying Sakura's basket. His mind quickly got to working. Naruto was his new friend, and if he wanted to be popular, Kiba might just help him.

"Oi, Naruto!" Kiba said aloud for everyone to hear, "Can't believe Sakura gave you a basket full of homemade dumplings. She must really like you."

Naruto raised a blond brow at the dog-boy but was distracted when he heard the girls whispering things to each other. Then the girls started smiling at Naruto and some even waved goodbye.

"What just happen?" the blond asked, facing Kiba, "And why did you say that? You know Sakura-chan is angry at me."

"Doesn't matter," the brash brunet responded, "In high school, rumors are more important than fact. If the girls think someone as popular as Sakura likes you, they also like you just because."

High school really was an intriguing game.

**-x-x-(End of Chapter Two: Misleading Attention)-x-x-**

**A/N:** There you have it. Because I want to keep the plot cannon-like, even if this is a high school fic, I had to make Kiba acknowledge Naruto on the same day Sasuke did. Next chapter will be a funny one with the return of rivals Sakura and Ino, plus another verbal assault courtesy of our very own Neji Hyuuga. The chapter's name is "Mind Disrruption Justu".


	3. Mind Disruption Jutsu

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _NARUTO_. If I did, Sakura would be at least sporting a B-Cup underneath her shirt.

**A/N:** Naruto has already recruited Kiba and you'll probably be able to figure out who his female "ally" will be just by reading the chapter's title.

**PS: **Said female "ally" will single-handily make or destroy the sasunarusaku (bet you can guess which one it will be).

**WARNING:** Do not read if you are offended by girls kissing boys.

^ Hahaha, sorry, I just had to do it.

-x-x-(It's always been like this, the only things I can do for Naruto are small and insignificant)-x-x-

**Chapter Three: "Mind Disruption Jutsu"**

Kiba hasn't always cared about whether he was popular or not. He had been a guy who couldn't give a damn about what he looked like. All he cared about was playing with Akamaru and his friends. Girls? He didn't care. The boisterous brunet preferred to brawl, test his strength and roll in the dirt with his pals.

He was a happy guy once.

But eventually as the years progressed, the smexy brunet started feeling like something was missing. Even with Akamaru at his side he couldn't help but to feel lonely. Finally his hormones kicked in and the answer was clear. He lacked a female companion.

It was about this time everybody noticed that Kiba wore his karpa less and less as the days went on in favor of more formfitting clothing, all for the purpose of luring the attention of the female specie.

This led him to the mall, where he was rowdily checking himself out in the black leather getup his sister had convinced him of wearing. It fitted him well he noticed. His broad shoulders, his manly chest, his package, his strong legs and that firm ass.

He had to admit he looked good, darn it he was hot. But something bothered him still and so he voiced his concern to his sister.

"Oi, Hana, are you sure 'bout this?"

His sister rolled her eyes and answered for the umpteenth time that day, "again, you look good on it."

"Not _that_," he answered mockingly like if it was already obvious he looked good, "It's just that I look so darn hot what if even guys get turned on by me?"

Ino, who was coincidentally passing by the store, heard Kiba's blatant remark and felt obligated to press pause on her sacred shopping pilgrimage just so she could laugh at him.

Loudly

Since, of course, she needed an audience whenever she berated someone. That way the word would spread about how cool she was.

"Dream on, dog-boy," The blonde sneered, swaying her hips to the sides as she strutted towards him. "What guy would even pay attention to you when they could be spending their life's resources on me?"

And to enhance her point, she flipped her silky long hair over her shoulder. Oh yeah, everybody was basking themselves in the beauty.

"Hey dog-breath!" Naruto hollered, walking in and grabbing the dog owner by the arm, "come with me, I need you". And with that, the blond left dragging Kiba away, leaving Hana to pay the bills, and Ino standing there… overlooked?

Did that just happen? Did Naruto just drag Kiba away without even noticing, blushing, stuttering or even acting like an idiot in front of her hotness? She, who was the most popular girl at their class, has been utterly ignored by a male in favor of… of… another male?

Naruto didn't even spare a glance at her.

He…

He…

"The HELL!" Ino yelled, stomping her way to the direction the two lowlifes had gone. There was no way she would stand for being ignored by a classmate, especially if that classmate was a fellow blond who was at the bottom of the popularity chart.

Even Tenten was more popular and nobody even knew her surname.

Don't people respect the popularity hierarchy anymore?

Target locked on.

Apparently Naruto had stop to whisper something to Kiba. Now was her chance to attack.

"Naruto!" She yelled when she caught up with him, her eyes scrutinizing him. "What the hell is so important that you can't even bow down to me?"

"Eh?" Said the blond, looking like if he didn't know what she was talking about. This enraged her since it only confirmed her suspicions of going unnoticed by him. Then his blue eyes strayed to Kiba as if wanting to say something but then he looked at her.

He quickly looked downcast and started scratching the back of his head. "Hi… Ino…" he said looking ashamed of something. Was he depressed?

"Oh cheer up," She said with disdain, "I like you better when you're your stupid-happy self."

At that Naruto grinned sheepishly.

"So... what's the emergency?" Kiba asked, wanting to know why he was abruptly dragged away.

Naruto looked away but the other two noticed the pink tinge on his whiskered cheeks. The male blond felt embarrassed about it but figured that telling Kiba wouldn't be that bad. But Ino…?

Fully aware about how those expressive blue eyes kept straying onto her, she figured he must really be embarrassed about saying it in front of her. So to loosen his tongue she said, "Just say it, I won't make fun of you."

True, she knew it was her presence that had him weary but like hell was she going to leave just so that he could feel more comfortable. Gossip was gossip no matter where it came from and she was all ears.

Sighing in defeat, Naruto admitted that he was lost because he didn't frequent through the mall at all. It sounded even more pathetic because the timid voice he used could rival even Hinata.

"You're… what?" Both Ino and Kiba asked, trying to stifle their laughter. They had heard him the first time but teasing him was just too good of an offer to pass up.

"I'm lost dammit!" He yelled, folding his arms and pouting angrily like a little child, "I was studying with Sakura-chan and Sasuke-bastard but then Sakura-chan told me to get something and next thing I knew I couldn't find them and now I'm lost and hungry!"

"_Figures,"_ Kiba thought condescendingly. He knew Naruto's sense of direction was worth shit plus he royally sucked at reading maps. Then the brunet felt irked because he suspected Sakura ditched Naruto on purpose.

"She played you," Kiba mumbled.

Ino on the other hand was seething, _"That ugly billboard-brow has MY Sasuke-kun for herself!"_

"Come Naruto," she said commandingly, "they are probably at the food court,"

There was no way she was going to let forehead-girl get away with spending time with Sasuke.

"I guess I'll be off then," said Kiba, waving goodbye since he was no longer needed.

"The hell you will," Ino commanded, putting her right foot down.

"Why?"

"Because you can't!"

She glanced at Naruto. His spiky blond hair was messy and unkempt, his ripped jeans were baggy and over bleached, he smelled like ramen, and wore an ugly orange jacket three sizes too big. Probably to hide the pudgy belly he must have had from eating all that ramen.

In short, it looked like he was wearing hand-me-downs. He looked like a loser. She simply couldn't be seen with someone like him. What would people think of her then? That she had low standards for guys? Her reputation would shatter.

Kiba, she noticed, had his hair perfectly combed; tight leather clothing that hugged him in all the right places, making visualizing his sculpted body all too easy. She could afford being seen with him.

"Dog-boy, walk beside me!" she bossed, turning to Naruto, "Whiskers, walk seven feet behind us and pretend you don't know us."

Ouch… that was hurtful.

But Ino was too distracted thinking about herself to care for the feelings of others. She probably didn't even notice she made fun of Naruto's birthmarks. Kiba wanted to say something in Naruto's defense but figured this was probably the only chance he'll get to walk beside Ino. Once all girls see Ino beside him they were sure to fawn over him. He was sure Naruto would understand.

Still, Kiba couldn't shake the feeling something was terribly wrong. It was weird that Naruto hadn't talked back to Ino. That knuckled head always talked back to people who disrespected him. It didn't matter if that person was boy, girl or even someone of political importance.

Neji's words today must have really struck a cord to really lower Naruto's self confidence.

-x-x-(Flashback)-x-x-

After much complaining and some shouting, Iruka Umino managed to get his students to pay attention. The teacher knew that his students didn't like it when he assigned the members for each team but he knew that if he didn't all the girls would be arguing over who gets to be on Sasuke Uchiha's team.

God knew the teacher didn't want to go through that again.

So far he had peacefully assigned six different groups for the special project they had to turn in next month. Yet his teacher instincts told him said peace would soon come to an end.

"Next team," he read, "Haruno Sakura…" (Naruto and Sakura's ears quickly perked up)

"…Uzumaki Naruto…" (Naruto happily pumped two fists into the air while Sakura wallowed in self-pity)

"…and Uchiha Sasuke…" (This time Sakura yelled her trade-mark "HELL YEAH!" while Naruto felt completely cheated. Sasuke… he just sat there brooding).

Not a second after the announcement Sakura was already latching onto the brooding teen's arm, talking about how the two of them could be great together, completely leaving her blond teammate out of the equation.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto complained, not at all happy he would have to share Sakura with Sasuke, "Why does an outstanding student like me have to be on the same team as that bum?"

Slightly charmed by the boy's self confidence yet not amused with the way the blond prankster boasted about something that was completely untrue, Iruka countered the statement.

"Sasuke's grades are amongst the top of all thirty of you. Naruto, you were the dead last. I had to do this do balance the teams, understand?"

At that everybody started laughing at the blond, Sakura being the one most vocal about it, and then Sasuke said "hn".

All the girls immediately quieted down, all love-struck and waiting patiently for the Uchiha's next words. "Just don't get in my way… dead last."

After more laughing at the expense of Naruto, the class ended and Sasuke was the first to leave, his fangirls trailing after him, followed close by their teacher.

As Naruto sulked while shoving his books into his messenger bag, someone from behind scoffed, "Foolish teacher, preferential treatment will only do you harm in the end."

The blond didn't need to turn around to know who said that, so trying to compose himself he turned to face the Hyuuga. Yet all attempts at self composure went down the drain when he met with the judicious pale eyes.

"If you got a problem with me say it to my face, you bastard!"

Neji, not one to deny the ears of whoever placed them before him, calmly glanced at Naruto and replied in a callous manner. "I do not have a personal grudge against you, Uzumaki, I simply tell you this because I care."

Naruto flipped him off but it did not deter the Hyuuga genius.

"You don't make a good student," Neji commented, his creepy eyes squinting, "You should forfeit now and avoid the pain of being told you won't be able to graduate. Embrace your life as a cashier and do not aspire to be something so far out of your reach."

"What was that?" Naruto questioned, pressing his ear against Neji's mouth, "Your man skirt distracted me from what you were saying."

Pale cold eyes narrowed at that comment but Neji was a patient man and could already tell it would be hard to crack through the blonde's thick skull, not that it dissuaded Neji from trying. If being _nice_ wouldn't work, he would instead be more direct with the usage of his words.

"Uzumaki, you are too stupid and too much of a failure. You have no brains and its still eludes me how you managed to still stand before us."

"Well get used to it!" Naruto retorted proudly puffing his chest out, "Because next year I'll be the class president and you'll have to respect me!"

If Neji's eyes widened in shock it was only for a mere second. Hyuuga do not gape. It's written in stone and hence, Neji did not gape. The long haired brunet was not one to continuously peer into other people's business, but at hearing such an outcry, the self-righteous Hyuuga felt no other option but offer his constructive wisdom.

"You are aware that your grades need to be at least around the top fifteen to qualify, are you not?"

Naruto's jaw fell open at that. He did not know about that requirement. Still, he wouldn't lose to Neji. "Don't matter, I'll become smarter and get those grades, just wait and see."

The blonde nodded to himself in agreement, sure that his plan was foolproof.

Neji's closed his eyes at the proclamation he just heard and couldn't help but to feel slight compassion for the fool standing before him. Nevertheless, in order to save said fool from future heartache, the long haired genius steeled his resolve and faced those expressive blue eyes.

"You really are an idiot." Neji announced calmly, his voice full of arrogance, "People cannot change themselves. Losers will always be losers. Their personality and strength will not change under the will of any."

Taking a moment to callously flip his silky brown hair over his ears, Neji's all seeing eyes stared at the blond up and down and couldn't help but to scoff. Holding up five fingers in front of Naruto, Neji continued with his verbal assault.

"Because people cannot change, differences are born. Expressions such as graduates and dropouts are created. Looks, brains, ability, size, personality. All people judge and are judged by these values. Based on these unchangeable factors people discriminate and are discriminated against. And they all will suffer within their own measure."

And to end it, the long haired brunet picked up his own backpack and proceeded to walk way. But not before leaving the dead last with some final words, of course.

"I have seen many things, failure, and you are just acting like you belong but deep inside you know what I say is true."

Once the brunet one year the blonde's senior had his back turned, Naruto felt this was his chance to end this tirade. It didn't matter if attacking someone from behind wasn't honorable; Naruto was going to make sure Neji didn't spat his bullshit at anyone else ever again. So he unceremoniously dropped his messenger bag and made a mad dash towards Neji, pulling his hand back to deliver a powerful blow to the back of Neji's head.

Unfortunately, he was wrong. As he charged, Neji effortlessly performed a 180 degree turn and threw out his leg, catching Naruto in the stomach. With a pained groan, Naruto crumpled to the ground. "What were you trying to achieve? Trash." Neji demanded, glaring coldly at the blonde.

Again, Naruto felt that Neji looked down on him in more ways than seeing him on the ground. So after a spasm of coughing, Naruto growled at his classmate.

"I'm going to prove you wrong!" Naruto coughed again, "I never go back on my word. I will be the president. Believe it!"

Neji only snarled in response, literarily turning his verbal assault into a verbal abuse.

"The fact that you are letting yourself be riled up by your emotions further proves me that you are trying to silence the truth of my words. Because everything I have just said is totally right."

The hate in Naruto's eyes was eminent, and this only fused the Hyuuga, happy that his words were finally sinking through that thick skull.

"Furthermore, it still eludes me why Iruka-sensei always tries to help you out by teaming you with the top graders of our class. I would have thought only Orochimaru-sensei showed this type of preferential treatment toward his students."

Naruto's eyes widen at this, while Neji prepared himself to deliver the final blow.

"It's just a matter a seeing underneath the underneath, right? Tell me, just how loud do you moan his name when he penetrates you at night?"

That was it, the Hyuuga genius could make fun of Naruto all he wanted but Naruto would never allow anyone to shame the name of his favorite teacher. The killer intent radiating through the blond was enough to make the Hyuuga take a step backwards, a safety measure.

Immediately Kiba rushed to his new buddy's side and tried to hold the blond down before any damage could be done. Yet the struggling blonde only stopped trying to beat up Neji when Shikamaru stood between the two and scowled at Neji.

"If you're done talking, I suggest you leave." The lazy Nara commented and Kiba quickly added, "And stay the hell away."

"Pfft," Neji scuffed, "well if it isn't the three stooges, I'll be on my way now."

Neji didn't even bother to look over his shoulder as he directed these words to the fallen blond, "You cannot change your destiny, loser. No matter what."

Once Neji left, Shikamaru boringly turned to Naruto and sighed, "I know it's a drag, but you would have gotten suspended if we hadn't stepped in. And that's probably what Neji wanted"

Hearing no response, Shikamaru noticed that Naruto's eyes were glazed while Kiba, still with a protective arm around the blonde, was glaring to the direction Neji had gone.

"…troublesome".

-x-x-(end flashback)-x-x-

Just as Ino guessed, Sasuke and Sakura were indeed at the food court. The pink haired girl was happily having a one-sided conversation with the raven haired Uchiha when Ino decided to shamelessly fling her arms around the neck of 'her Sasuke'.

"Sasuke-kun," the Barbie girl pronounced seductively, making sure the Uchiha could feel the full weight of the breast on his back, "While billboard-brow was boring you with her lameness I found your teammate wandering helplessly."

Sasuke, who had been spacing out ever since Sakura tried striking up conversation with him, blinked out of his stupor when the heard Uzumaki's name, "You found the dobe?"

"I got a name, chiken-butt head!" Naruto retorted, sitting down next to his pink crush who only smacked him for insulting Sasuke's hair. Kiba was about to sit next to Naruto when he caught whiff of some girls and decided to try his luck out instead.

Inner Sakura fumed when she saw the two blondes. Now her plan to seduce Sasuke was facing difficulties.

"Hn," Sasuke started, placing his books on the table, "now that the three of us are here we can get started on our studies."

Iruka-sensei had assigned a list of a hundred math problems for each team. Sasuke, being who he was, wanted to see how many of these problems he could solve by himself and ordered his team to do the same.

Sakura and Naruto nodded at this and also took out their respective books. This dampened Ino's mood since no flirting could be done while her precious Sasuke-kun studied. "That dress is perfect!" Ino suddenly shouted, rushing to where she saw a girl trying to buy a long purple dress that practically had Ino's name all over it. Therefore Sakura only had to deal with just Naruto again.

"_Whatever, I'll just ignore him,"_ Sakura thought, scooting closer to Sasuke, "So Sasuke-kun, need some help with your math problems? I got time to help"

"No," was Sasuke's one word answer, much to the emerald eyed girl's disappointment.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," the blonde called happily, "can you help me out instead?"

"Sorry Naruto, I don't have time to help out" Sakura answered as if she hadn't proclaimed she had time just three seconds ago.

"I'll help," the top student said, moving to sit beside his blond teammate, "can't have you dragging me down again."

Naruto frowned at Sasuke's reasoning but smiled all the same. The blond knew it was just Sasuke's way of saying he wanted to help.

Before they knew it two hours had passed. Well, Naruto and Sasuke didn't notice it because they were way into their playful bickering, but Sakura, who had been ignored for those past two hours, noticed painfully how the minutes slowly went on.

Finally she couldn't take it and excused herself from the table. Kiba and Ino had returned from their respective activities and Sasuke excused himself to make a phone call before Ino could attempt anything on him.

Ten minutes passed by and neither Sasuke nor Sakura had returned.

Slightly bored and a tad frustrated at the remote feeling of being ditched again, Naruto finally spared a glance to Kiba and for the first time that day he paid attention to what Kiba was wearing.

"Eh, dog breath, is that new?" Naruto asked drowsily. Not really caring if it was new or not but at least it gave him something to talk about.

"Took you long," Kiba playfully mocked, "and yeah, it is."

"Meh, you look good."

At that a pink tinge appeared on the dog-lover's cheeks, _"So guys really think I'm hot as well"_, and with that he smugly turned to Ino and winked. The class president rolled her eyes and let Kiba have his win, this time at least.

Naruto sighed again waiting for Sakura to be back, not only because of his crush on her but because without her around he didn't feel like doing the math problems. Still he was happy when he noticed the amount of problems he had done.

Ino was raking her nails through her purse, wondering where the hell Sakura and her Sasuke-kun had gone.

Both blondes were too preoccupied with their own problems to notice that the brunet was staring lovingly at Naruto, his face resting on his hands with a dreamy look on his tattooed face. Chances were Kiba himself didn't notice what he was doing.

After some more waiting Ino decided to check out another store and not a second later Hana came in and dragged her brother Kiba out of the mall, saying something about playtime being over.

Alone again, Naruto tested his luck and searched around for his group, hoping he wouldn't get lost this time. That's when he stumbled into two voices he knew particularly well. Not wanting to eavesdrop on girl talk, the blonde turned on his heel until he heard his name being spoken by the love of his life.

Now he had to eavesdrop.

Sakura had been ranting nonstop to Ino about how life was so unfair.

"Can you believe it, Ino? Sasuke just ignored me like that because that stupid Naruto couldn't solve one problem himself! I can't stand Naruto. He is always getting in the way of my love and I think he enjoys seeing me struggle. He doesn't understand anything about me. He is just annoying! All I wanted was for Sasuke-kun to acknowledge me!"

"Naruto is just an annoying idiot who gets away with whatever he wants. He is lucky he doesn't have parents to put him in his place. If I did half the things Naruto did my parents would have me grounded for life."

And without making much noise, Naruto left. He couldn't bear to hear this coming out from his crush. It would do his heart no good. Naruto wouldn't say he was lucky he didn't have parents.

Alone at the food court again, Naruto waited and finally Sasuke returned, saying he had to leave soon. At that moment Sakura also returned and the wheels on Naruto's head started turning.

"Hey, Sasuke…" the blond started, continuing when Sakura was within hearing range, "I'm going to wait up on Ino so why don't you walk Sakura-chan home."

Sakura's head snapped up at this and Sasuke simply shrugged, "hn".

It was beautiful. They way Sakura's face started to glow, to radiate happiness because Sasuke Uchiha had just agreed to walk her home. The way her beautiful pink hair cascaded all the way to her waist, the way her skin radiated with a healthy touch of red, the way her green eyes reminded him of precious stones. How can anyone not love Sakura?

Naruto could see her happiness in that instant. And as he waved them goodbye only one thought plagued his mind, _"Sakura-chan really likes Sasuke, doesn't she? She wants him in the same way I want her."_

Unknown to him, Ino had seen the whole thing play out and shook her head in disappointment. To her, Naruto was a real idiot. Didn't he know that good guys always finished last? Naruto was doomed to play the best friend role.

It always played out like that. Girls like Sakura always tried to get the bad boy they can't have because they knew that if everything else failed, they would always have their faithful lapdog of a friend ready to catch them. It was because of Naruto's loyalty to her that Sakura would never pay attention to him. She knew she could have him whenever she wanted.

But Naruto's status was not of Ino's concern.

Turning on her purple heels to leave, her stomach betrayed her when it growled, announcing her presence to the loser.

Damn.

"Sounds like you're hungry," Naruto commented, "Wanna get some ramen?"

"R-R-Ramen?"_ "Fuck! This loser wants to poison me!"_ "No thanks, already called daddy. He'll pick me up in fifteen minutes." She said, trying to discourage him from getting closer, after all, she could not be seen with such a loser.

"Plenty of time, c'mon!" he said cheerfully, grabbing her arm and pulling her to a little ramen stand. Before she could complain, he took out a frog shape wallet which he called "gama-chan". Too lost in thought by the fact that a fifteen year old had a frog shaped wallet, she failed to notice when a the chef had placed a miso-ramen bowl in front of her.

Wondering why Naruto didn't also have a bowl in front of him she asked, "You're not going to eat?"

"Nah, I'm not hungry." he said reassuringly, folding his arms on the table to rest his head on them.

She took a sip of the broth and the swallowed some of her ramen and was amazed by how good it tasted. She turned to tell this to Naruto but found him looking away from her, his head still on the table but with one arm over his face. Almost like if he was trying to block the smell of ramen away.

Then it clicked.

"Oh dammit," she said and ordered up another ramen cup, placing it in front of her fellow blonde, "eat, I'm paying for yours."

"But I'm not hungry." He said, looking bewildered.

"Cut the crap, whiskers, everyone in school knows you can't ever have your fill of ramen. Don't look at me like that, you know it true."

"Heheh, thanks," he chuckled helping himself to a mouthful of it, "Shikamaru was right, you're nice when others aren't looking."

"He said what? Hpmh!" she scoffed and he chuckled even more.

It annoyed her how easy it was to read him. The boy wasn't good at lying. He smiles as easily as he can pout, plus those stupid expressive blue eyes of his. They didn't hide the sorrow, the rage, the happiness, it didn't hide anything. Cool guys knew how to mask their emotions. Cool guys knew how to pretend they had the edge even when they didn't.

Add to that that he couldn't even pay for a decent date. Sure it was a nice gesture he did placing her hunger before his but that only showed her that people could easily take advantage of him. And when some one looked as run down, as untaken care of and as poor as he looked, they couldn't afford being taken advantage of by others.

Sakura words struck her again, _"Naruto is just an annoying idiot who gets away with whatever he wants. He is lucky he doesn't have parents to put him in his place. If I did half the things Naruto did my parents would have me grounded for life."_

The thought of it made her shiver and suddenly she felt something warm surrounded her. Naruto had just placed his ugly orange jacket on her.

"I know you hate it," he said looking down to his feet, "but it helps keep the cold away."

And then he gave her that smile of his. That stupid-happy grin of his that said everything would be okay even though half of the time he didn't believe it himself. She knew this well since she had seen him force a smile on whenever he was uncomfortable. But even with this knowledge that smile made people want to believe it. And when people set their minds on something they could achieve it.

Because she had spent so much time flirting with Sasuke, Ino had forgotten how it felt to actually be courted by a guy, and decided she deserved more. Maybe Naruto was the pawn she needed.

"Ramen getting cold," he said slurping the rest of his ramen, still waiting for Ino to finish hers.

Looking to both sides to make sure no one else was looking; she grabbed her bowl and also slurped it down. Naruto chuckled 'cause he knew Ino would like the ramen. The girl on the other hand took this opportunity to study him from the corner of her eyes. Surprised to see than underneath that baggy jacket Naruto didn't have the pudgy stomach she assumed he had. Instead, through that run down excuse of a t-shirt he wore, she saw muscle, nice sized pectorals, broad shoulders and potential.

"Naruto…" she said, and he perked up at this because she didn't called him 'whiskers' as usual, "I can't help you with your academic problem but…" she sighed, not believing she was actually going to do this, "tomorrow make sure to ask Sakura out again, at social science class before Kakashi-sensei gets there."

At this Naruto rose a blonde eyebrow but she continued.

"Put on your best outfit, preferably something with less orange than usual. And don't wear this jacket. Trust me, just do it."

After that, Ino's father came to pick her up and she parted ways with Naruto. It wasn't until later that night that Naruto realized that Ino had taken his jacket.

And then Friday came along.

Just as he had been advised, Naruto put on his best clothes which consisted of a pair of black jeans, a button up white shirt, and a black trench coat. He also tied a black strap around his forehead because he thought it would make him look cooler.

Social science came around but there were no signs of the class president and even lesser signs of the appointed teacher. His classmates, however, had been eyeing Naruto strangely, probably because of his lack of orange the blond assumed.

"_It's now or never," _he thought, moving to stand in front of Sakura's desk. But before he could even say a word, the door slammed open, alarming everybody.

It was Ino Yamanaka

She entered the classroom, walking with a smirk plastered on her face, like if she had a secret that everybody wanted to know but she's wasn't telling. But what really caught the attention of her fellow classmates was the orange jacket she had on.

Naruto's orange jacket.

"Hey Naruto" she said in a sultry voice as she playfully placed her hand on whiskered teen's forearm. "I never got to thank you for last night."

At this the room when quiet. Even Chouji had stopped munching on his potato chips.

"I-I-Ino…?." The knuckleheaded blond stammered, a blush creeping its way into his features.

"You were such a gentleman," she giggled, her smooth hand now caressing his right cheek.

The blush on Naruto's face only got ten shades redder as Ino's fingers started tracing the whisker-like marks on his cheeks. She could already sense the killer intent emitting from Sakura and was happily surprised to see that even Sasuke was paying attention. She could have sworn she heard a growl from Kiba but paid it no heed.

Perfect. Today would be the day she defied all the clicks' laws. Sasuke was the guy every girl liked, and after her unofficial date with Naruto, she decided that she was done with being every girl. She was not an "everybody'. She was the top bitch and it was about high time everybody else knew it.

Her plan was working. Ino knew Sakura would feel jealous the instant another girl made advances on Naruto. If Ino could bring these emotions out of Sakura then maybe the pink head would forget about Sasuke and focus on the blond boy she had always ignored. And if Sakura got together with Naruto, trapping Sasuke would be all the easier.

Ino saw in a soap opera once that the best way to make a guy notice you was by flirting with his best friend, and Naruto was the closest person to Sasuke. If she could make an Uchiha get jealous, she will easily solidify her status as the most popular girl in school for centuries to come. It didn't matter if she managed to bag him in the end or not.

Besides, it wasn't as if she was only using Naruto for personal gains. She did say she'll help him with his popularity. The fact that she even spoke to him would probably make him the next fresh piece of meat on the girl's market.

And so she went for the kill.

The instant she kissed the whiskered cheek, Sakura snapped her pen in anger, Sasuke looked like a part of him had just died and the others started gossiping.

_That oh so clever banshee!_

-x-x-(End of Chapter Three: Mind Disruption Jutsu)-x-x-

**A/N: **There you have it. Hope you enjoyed it. As of now both Sasuke and Sakura will grow somewhat possessive of Naruto, though neither will be admitting to themselves why. And before you ask, yeah, Kiba also likes Naruto but he doesn't know it yet. I have big plans coming up for them but in the end Naruto will only end up with one character.

Please leave some feedback and oh, announcement time. Next chapter we will have the youthful Rock Lee and Gaara… of the FUNK!


	4. The Path I Dance

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _NARUTO_, if I did we would already know the color of Shino's eyes. I mean, are they green, brown, black, tiny little red eyes, golden mosquito eyes, or is he blind?

I do not own the Naruto Abridged Series, either.

**A/N:** For those who asked, the reason Neji is present in some of Naruto's classes is because of Hinata. But I won't discuss this reason until I get to the "Hinata Chapter". I did say at the beginning that I'll make good use of every character so she'll receive her role in due time.

**2****nd**** A/N: **Thanks to _**CalculusNova**_ for being my beta in this chapter.

_-x-x-x- (For those who don't believe in themselves, hard work is worthless) -x-x-x-_

**Chapter Four: "The Path I Dance"**

Dance Dance Revolution, commonly known as DDR, was the game that singlehandedly battled with some of the overweight issues of teens around the world by making them be more active at the arcade. How was the game played? It's quite simple really. Players had to stand on a "dance platform," or stage, and hit, with their feet, the colored arrows laid out in a cross to musical and visual cues. Said players were then judged by how well they timed their steps to the patterns presented to them, and were allowed to choose more music to "dance" to if they received a passing score.

Naruto himself was a proud high scorer of the game; proudly, his name was flashing on the monitor among the other nine.

**DDR Top Ten:**

**1. Neji H. 2. Sasuke U. 3. Temari 4. Shino A. 5. Kankurou**

**6. Naruto U. 7. Ino Y. 8. Shikamaru N. 9. Dosu K. 10. Haku**

Before the day ended today, DDR Supernova would be dismantled and replaced with DDR Supernova 2.0, but the DDR Top Ten list will forever be immortalized in the Hall of Fame. Needless to say, every teenager within the radius was giving it their all for one last attempt to be immortalized. Sadly, said competition kept being delayed on account of technical difficulties. The monitor screen kept malfunctioning every now and then after so many people had physically bent their frustration on it after loosing.

However, that was not what Naruto was here for. The blond with big dreams, along with the Uchiha who thirst revenge, worked full time at the arcade every Saturday. Whereas Sasuke mostly handled the cash register while ignoring the advances of his fangirls, Naruto went around and fixed –er kicked – whatever technical difficulties he found. This role arrangement was probably for the better, as the blond prankster didn't fully trust the raven haired avenger when it came to handymen working tools, especially after what had transcended between them one year ago.

-x-x-x- (flashback) -x-x-x-

It was in Captain Yamato's woodshop class where the event had occurred. By alphabetical order, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto ended up paired with the task of building a perfectly proportioned bench that could host three people comfortably. Naruto was psyched about it because with Sasuke's great eye for detail this task would be a no brainer. Unfortunately, that's basically where the pros ended.

It started out smoothly with the Uchiha measuring and directing while the Uzumaki sliced and hammered. It was the melodious sound of something getting beaten into its place that first alerted Sasuke's imaginative nature.

Naruto was already sweating. The force he applied made those tanned muscles of his arms flex deliciously, the sheer odor of man work creeping its way to the finest confinements of the Uchiha's mind, the way those golden strands of hair latched themselves to that glistening forehead, and the way the blonde would grin in satisfaction every time a nail would get mercilessly hammered down.

Just the thought of something small and defenseless getting beaten down by someone bigger and stronger made the Uchiha's body tremble in ways so pleasurable it was thought impossible. His senses were imploring him for some action. The sheer want was enough to even make him perspire. This caused him to wonder, just for a brief second, what it would be like to be in Naruto's position. He couldn't take it anymore.

"N-Na-Naruto…" Sasuke stammered, panting heavily like a drug addict going through withdrawals, "… c-can we… can we switch roles?"

"Okay…" Naruto answered distraughtly, carefully handing the hammer to his classmate. The blond was troubled by the way Sasuke had so uncharacteristically asked politely when voicing his question. It almost sounded as if the avenger was pleading.

Sasuke's right hand stopped trembling once it gripped the hammer, and so did his left hand when it gripped a spare iron nail. In an instant, all signs of weakness were erased from the Uchiha and instead replaced with determination and promise. A malicious smirk soon graced the pale teen's face. "Naruto," the dark eyed teen started, "be ready to pass me more nails every time I order."

One nail, two nails, three nails were hammered down, and each time the Uchiha increased his momentum. The smirk on his flawless face widening, merely seconds away from starting to laugh as a mad man. Naruto gulped down HARD and was beginning to get scared. His blue eyes had only seen Sasuke this… this "demented" whenever Itachi was involved. That was when it clicked. Sasuke was probably imagining he was the almighty judge pounding justice into the poor defenseless nail that was probably "Itachi." Said suspicions were later confirmed when the maniacal Sasuke accidentally asked the blond to pass him another "Itachi."

Captain Yamato casually passed by and commented on how Sasuke was really into woodshop, to which Naruto answered, "You have no idea."

-x-x-x- (end of flashback) -x-x-x-

Sasuke had issues, or to be more specific, the avenger had SERIOUS inferior brother-complex issues. That much was clear even to someone as dense as Naruto, so how could the fangirls so easily turn a blind eye to that? _"I guess love really is blind,"_ Naruto thought, unknowingly pouting.

"NARUTO-KUN!" a familiar voice shouted enthusiastically, almost deafening the poor blonde. It was none other than the self proclaimed 'handsome, young, green devil of Konoha High," Rock Lee, or as Naruto called him, "Bushy Brows". He was known for his thick eyebrows, green jumpsuit that hugged him in visually offensive places, and a shiny bowl haircut. "Why are you looking so un-youthful today?" the green beast asked clearly worried, "You should be happy and burning with the flames of youth. Neji has informed me about your new desire to become class president next year, and I believe such a youthful goal should be celebrated with the curry of life. If I was on your same year I would gladly offer my vote to you."

"He he, thanks," Naruto grinned sincerely. Say what people may about Rock Lee, but Naruto knew that underneath all that weirdness laid a true friend. "Thanks Bushy Brows, but even with your vote I don't have the grades to be accountable." The blonde joked, forcing a smile as he pointed to his head, "Like Neji said, I'm not smart enough".

"DO NOT FRET, MY DEAR FRIEND!" Lee shouted passionately, pumping a fist with equal amount of passion, "Do not let the words of Neji deter you from your path. There are two types of elites out there, those who are born great and those who have to work hard to become great." With that said, Lee placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder and pointed his other hand to the east, "Let us run toward the setting sun, my friend, for we are the type that has to work hard to achieve their goals. Let us prove to the world that hard work can surpass a genius. Study my friend, set your goal in your mind and achieve it."

"He he…" Naruto chuckled, nudging his youthful friend, "… as simple as that, eh?"

"As simple as that." Lee assured, giving the big thumbs up with a dazzling smile combo, in other words, the good-guy pose. Naruto couldn't help but cross his hands behind his blonde head and smile just as brightly. Smiles were contagious, after all. At that a crowd of people Naruto recognized from school entered the arcade. Noticing the confusion of Naruto's face, Lee explained. "I have invited our school here to witness history being made." Taking a step forward, he continued, "Watch me today, Naruto-kun, for I shall prove that even a spirited loser such as me can be immortalized in the Hall of Fame." Seeing the determination in Lee's eyes made Naruto nod in agreement.

Rock Lee hasn't always been like this; in fact, the doctors thought Lee would never be able to walk. However, when Lee was just five years old, he got off his mother's lap to greet the beautiful girl with pink hair that had caught his interest. It had been a miracle how Lee had suddenly started walking like if he hadn't been invalid the entire time. It was more than a miracle; people said it was the power of love.

Other problems soon came, though. Lee suffered from severe asthma attacks, forcing him to clutch to his inhaler as if he was clutching to life itself, which in retrospect, he literally was. Lee never gave up, though. Nowadays Lee was the fastest track player Konoha High had. The self proclaimed handsome devil of Konoha High excelled in every sport in ways that nobody would have ever guess he had a long medical history of severe asthma attacks.

It had been a year since Lee first tried to get a high score in DDR, but to no avail. Today would be the last chance he had to make it into the Hall of Fame. _"A genius of hard work."_ Naruto thought, admiring his friend. The blonde was sure Lee would make this goal into a reality, and if Lee could do it, the blond was definitely sure that being class president wouldn't be far out of his reach. All he had to do was believe, work hard, and achieve. Although for now, the blonde's time to shine could wait for another day, today was Rock Lee's.

"Dobe," announced the brooding Uchiha as he made his way to the blond, "the boss says that they will dismantle DDR in around fifteen minutes. We should clear the area now."

"Right." Naruto nodded, blowing into his whistle to gain the attention of many, "Alright, make way," he announced, "Dance Dance Revolution is as of now off limits." Hearing many complaints among the crowd, the blond continued, "But we have time for one more round so Bushy Brows," he said pointing to Lee, "take the stage!"

"Right!" Lee said, stepping forward before facing the crowd, "My extremely cool and youthful sensei has taught me that in order to reach the highest of goals, one must find themselves an eternal rival whose flames of youth shine just as bright. Therefore, Naruto-kun, I challenge you."

"Negative," Neji interjected, "Uzumaki already is set as a Hall of Famer. You need to challenge someone who hasn't had that same opportunity." At that two doors flung open to reveal three strangers. One was a tough looking blonde tomboy who tied her hair in four short ponytails at perpendicular, yet parallel, diagonal angles. Another was an imposing big boned brunet, completely dressed in black with strange purple markings across his face. The killer intent radiating from the third, however, was the one that caught the attention of many.

The red head with the impassive teal eyes made his way towards the green clad teen. Everything about the redhead was oozing Texas-chainsaw-massacre culprit. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days. He had a permanent scowl, and his seriously thick 'guy-liner' made the murderous glint in his eyes all the more evident. The way he walked with his arms crossed sent shivers down everybody's spine. It was like the redhead had nothing to fear, almost as if the redhead was untouchable.

Add to that, there was a weird kanji tattooed on the redhead's forehead. It meant "love," something everyone in the room was sure the redhead didn't willingly offer to others. Once in front of Lee, the redhead said with his impassive yet calmed voice, "I challenge you to DDR." Lee, completely oblivious to the un-youthfulness of the redhead, gladly accepted the challenge.

"Let this be a match worth remembering!" he yelled enthusiastically, stretching his hand out to shake like good competitors should. The redhead simply turned and stepped on his respective platform, his arms crossed as he waited for his challenger to do the same. After all, the green clad idiot was just a pawn the redhead was using to measure his own existence. Lee, overlooking the fact that the redhead had totally dissed him, glanced at the crowd and smiled when he saw he knew a lot of the people in there: Naruto-kun, angelic looking Sakura, Sasuke-kun, Neji, Tenten, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Shino, Hinata, Kiba, Dosu, Kin, Zaku, Haku, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon. _"Today will surely be the day,"_ Rock Lee thought, stepping into his own platform.

Kiba casually positioned himself beside the brunet with the purple face markings, and in a very smooth attempt to break the ice, he said, "So… make-up, eh?"

This only warranted a glare from the 'make-up' wearing brunet. "This," he said pointing to his markings, "is war paint!"

"Sure," Kiba responded, pretending he found his own nails more interesting, "My red tattoos look better. Name's Kiba, by the way"

"Kankurou," the other responded.

The dog-lover, mentally patting himself on the back for breaking the ice, decided to ask, "So this redhead… is he any good?"

"Good?" Kankuro snickered to himself, smugly crossing his arms, "Where we come from they called him… Gaara… of the Funk!"

( shuku shuku shuku shuku shuku… Gaara of the Funk! )

With that, the DDR battle started.

Rock Lee started strong with a move he liked to call "Dynamic Entry!" which he quickly followed up with moves he named "Leaf Whirlwind" and "Leaf Hurricane." Gaara, being the polar opposite, showed fast footwork yet his face stayed as collected as ever and his arms were still crossed upfront. Amazingly their scores were tied for the moment. As the levels progressed both Lee and Gaara kept having perfect scores but that would soon come to an end.

The cheers of the crowd fueled Lee's resolve to the point tears of happiness risked cascading off his cheeks. _"I have come this far believing that if I trained twice or thrice harder than Neji I would become just a strong and cool. Today, I shall have proof that hard work really is what truly matters! Pray for me Gai-sensei!"_

"Entertain me further," demanded the redhead, "your skill is not enough."

"Bear witness as I display my flames of youth, my dear adversary!" Lee proclaimed, performing one of his most score winning moves, the "Primary Lotus."

Immediately, Lee's score started going up exponentially, but his breathing did also. He could feel it, the warning symptoms of an incoming asthma attack. _"No," _Lee swore to himself, _"Neji, Sasuke-kun, and Naruto-kun. I cannot be the only one who loses. Gai-sensei, give me strength, for today, I prove my way of life!"_

Everybody stared in amazement when both Lee and Gaara reached the final level. A level all DDR Top Ten had reached before. The moves they do now will determine whether they make the Hall of Fame or not. Gaara increased his pace when he started using his hands, proving that all this time he had been taking it easy. Lee, however, was battling with his incoming asthma attack, but he would not lose. Unfortunately, his moves were becoming visibly brusque and clumsy. In a matter of seconds Gaara had a staggering lead on Lee.

"C'mon Bushy Brows!" Naruto cheered with all his might, "You can do this; I know you can! Hard work is the best strength! I believe it!"

"Lee, you're amazing!" Sakura chipped in, surprising everybody who knew her.

"_Thank you, Naruto-kun, and my beautiful Sakura. I will not lose this easily!" _Lee thought as he unveiled his finest hand to feet coordination work, the "Hidden Lotus"… and then it was over.

**DDR Top Ten:**

**1. Neji H. 2. Sasuke U. 3. Temari 4. ****Shino A. 5. Kankurou**

**6. Naruto U. 7. Ino Y. 8. Shikamaru N. 9. Dosu K. 10. ****Lee R.**

Lee stared in amazement, "I…" panting, "I…," and taking in a deep breath, "I did it! Everyone I did it!"

"Not yet," answered Gaara who was also staring at the score board. "It's grading me now."

**DDR Top Ten:**

**1. Gaara 2. ****Neji H. 3. Sasuke U. 4. Temari 5. ****Shino A.**

**6. Kankurou 7. Naruto U. 8. Ino Y. 9. Shikamaru N. 10. Dosu K.  
**

Even if it was for a mere second, Rock Lee's name had been in the Top Ten, but just like that, his name had been bounced to number eleven.

"Fool," was Gaara's cold word, "those who fight for recognition of others do not know real strength. I live for myself and love only myself. That is true strength."

But before Lee even had a chance to comprehend the meaning of the redhead's words, his asthma hit him, HARD! The only things that could be heard was the voice of Tenten and Sakura screaming "Get his inhaler!"

"Somebody call for help."

"Hang in there, Lee."

"Hand in there! Hang in there!"

"Where the hell is his inhaler?"

"Help!"

At closing time, Naruto and Sasuke turned in their keys and decided to call it a night. The Uchiha, noticing how distraught Naruto had been after the whole Lee incident, asked the blond if he wanted to stay the night at his place. Naruto smiled at the gesture, but he chose to walk home alone, instead. He needed to be alone.

The blond watched his raven-haired friend disappear into the distance before deciding to do the same, only to be met with the last person he wanted to see that night. "What do you want?" Naruto asked bitterly and Neji simply scoffed at the welcome.

"I just came to give you a reminder, Uzumaki." The long haired brunet answered, his eyes scrutinizing the blond before him before continuing, "Lee never realized it even at the very end. The heavens will not allow a pawn that can only seek victory at the cost of oneself to advance. Remember that well, failure."

**-x-x-x- (End of Chapter 4: "The Path I Dance") -x-x-x-**

**A/N:** There you have it, I hope you enjoyed it. As for the consequences of Ino kissing Naruto on Friday, you'll get to see that when Naruto returns to school on Monday. Be ready to read Ino at her finest so far.

Oh and thanks to _**Sodapops**_ for giving me the idea for the "1000 Ways to Kill Itachi" of this chapter.


	5. Jealousy has green eyes

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. If I did somebody would have already told Sasuke that to revive his clan he needs to talk to girls.

**A/N:** If you like female rivalries then you are so going to love this chapter. It's time for slumbering feelings to awake. This goes for the male characters as well. Oh and by the way, don't let yourself be tricked into thinking that I dislike Sakura because I really do like her. I just like Ino more.

**Warning: **Beware of crude humor and cursing.

-x-x- (Those who break the rules and codes are scum. Yes that's true. However... those who don't take care of their friends...are worse than scum) -x-x-

**Chapter Five: "Jealousy has green eyes"**

Monday started off as usual for Naruto, with Jiraiya already gone to do some _research_ (the pervert), with last night's pizza ready for breakfast (oh how healthy), and a ten dollar bill on the table to survive the day (living large).

What was unusual about this morning, however, was the heavy floral aroma that bombarded the spiky blonde's sense of smell when he entered the kitchen/living room/study room of his apartment building.

There, on the kitchen table, laid a lilac colored box with a little yellow sticky note beside it. Opting to go for the little piece of paper first, he read.

_-"Why you sly little bastard, laid yourself a girlfriend and didn't tell me about it. I'm hurt. Nice catch, though, very nice catch indeed. – Jiraiya"-_

Confused by the message since Naruto was sure he didn't have a girlfriend; the messy teen opened the box and saw purple, literarily. There was also a flower scented letter attached to it that read,

_-"Hola whiskers, wear this today, brush your hair down but keep it looking a little messy and wear that three-pillar shaped necklace of yours outside the shirt. Do this for me and I promise you'll thank me by the end of the day. And no pranks today! –xoxo Ino Yamanaka" –_

"What the heck?" Naruto asked himself disbelievingly as he read and reread the letter, "Who the heck does she think she is ordering me around like that?" Then he remembered how the bossy girl had caressed and kissed the whiskered shaped scars on his cheeks, and whilst he'd preferred it would've been Sakura to do it, he had to admit it sort of felt nice.

"Shikamaru and Chouji are friends with her," he commented to himself while checking out the contents of the package, hoping to find something not purple, before shrugging them off with a solemn sigh, "if anything it'll make today more interesting."

-x-x-Homeroom-x-x-

Since their homeroom teacher and class president were still to arrive, Vice-president Sakura Haruno took it upon herself, again, to roll-call. "Figures," she grumbled bitterly under her breath, "Ino is the president but I'm the one who always ends up doing her job."

So far the only two people that were absent happened to be the blondes of the class, Naruto Uzumaki and Ino Yamanaka. This made inner Sakura grin with a vengeance since it offered her an opportunity to scowl at the male for being irresponsibly late and it also gave her the chance to personally mark an absence on the female's permanent record.

"_All I have to do is wait for the late bell to ring,"_ the pink head snickered while her inner self seconded that motion with a, _**"CHA! That bitch is going to pay!"**_

"Morning, guys," she heard a familiar voice say, meaning, Naruto was actually on time. Not that this was going to stop the emerald eyed girl from _disciplining_ Naruto. At least that was her plan… up until the point she casted her eyes on him.

There he was, standing by the door frame. A Naruto she knew very well but yet not the same Naruto she'd known. Instead of seeing him with his usual baggy pants he was wearing some straight-fitting jeans that showed off his muscular legs better than anything else he had ever worn. Instead of his unflattering orange jacket the blond was dressed with a long sleeved purple shirt that adjusted elegantly to his lean yet strong physic, his three-blue-crystal necklace in plain view, making him look refined and poised. His hair was actually brushed down to reach his eyebrows yet it still had a few messy spikes that refused to go down. That gave him that dreamy bedroom look. Add to those changes his already captivating blue eyes and good natured smile and the end product was a gaping Sakura.

She discreetly glanced at the rest of the class only to notice they were in a similar state as her. Their eyes focused on Naruto, their jaws hanging low. The female population couldn't even blink as their eyes appreciated the eye candy. Some of them were even licking their lips. Of the guys that also found themselves staring, Sasuke himself wondering why his eyes couldn't stray from the delectable -ahem- president wannabe, many of them grumbled at the sight of another guy stealing all of the girls.

Naruto looked good, Sakura had to admit, but there was something off with his appearance. The distinct shade of purple his long-sleeved shirt carried, why was it so familiar to her? Kiba too had a raising suspicion about the situation. The brunet's sensitive nose made him wonder why the room was invaded with the scent of flowers when Naruto walked in. Kiba could barely even register that raw un-tampered smell he had grown so addicted -ahem- accustomed to perceive from his prank-loving friend.

Their answer appeared in the form of another blonde coming into the room, sporting a matching purple tee and skirt, who said, "Hola, whiskers," as she turned him around and wrapped her arms around his neck after getting a quick overview of Naruto's appearance, "You did good," she whispered to his ear as she felt him tense under her touch, "Just follow my lead and tell me I look nice, 'kay?" and with that she gave him a slight peck to his cheek.

As Naruto tried to fight his blush down he realized that Ino's and his clothes were indeed matched. "Um, Ino, you look really eh pretty." Sakura begged to differ. When the pinkette glanced at Ino she thought that in someplace somewhere there was a cheap corner missing a hoe.

A wide range of reactions were seen as slowly but surely everybody reached the same conclusion. It could only mean one thing, the fact that the two blondes were sporting matching clothing, they were a couple. If anyone in the room would have strained their ears at that instant, they might have caught the anguish-filled "nooooo," coming out of the Hyuuga Heiress.

The late bell soon ran and their silvered haired teacher, Kakashi, came in to find his usually rowdy class in a state of complete silence, so after dismissing the students to their assigned desks he proceed with his class. Though he admittedly was a little put off when neither Naruto nor Sakura accused him of being late today.

Once the class ended, Kakashi dismissed the students but ordered Naruto to stay after class. As the students emptied the room, Naruto sat nervously at his desk, wandering what the laid-back and seemingly disinterested teacher had installed for him. Kakashi smiled under the mask that covered the lower half of his face as he leaned back to his chair and pulled out his perverted orange book, feigning to have forgotten that his student was still there.

"Sensei…?"

"Oh, Naruto, forgot you were there." He replied, motioning disinterestingly to a stack of paper at the corner of his teacher's desk, "There should be one with your name on it, read the grade aloud for me." Naruto did as he was told except for the reading his grade aloud part because his voice got stuck on his throat when he saw it. "Tell me, Naruto, should I save you the trouble by simply failing you now?"

"Okay, I get it, I'll study more," Naruto argued, only to be smacked in the head with his teacher's orange porn book. Said teacher re-inclined himself back to his seat and placed his feet on the desk, opening is perverted orange book to the page it was before. Then the silver haired teacher continued.

"I'm telling you this because you don't get it. You think you get it, which is not the same thing as actually getting it. Get it?" The teacher scolded casually, and just as casually he said the next thing as if it wasn't really a concern of his. "All that I'm saying is that you are at risk of being held back a year".

"No!" Naruto shrieked, grabbing his teacher by the collar. Kakashi would've reprimanded his student if it wasn't for the obvious distress in those expressive blue eyes, "You can't do that to me, Kakashi-sensei, I promise I'll study harder! Please, just give me one more chance to prove myself" The blonde said hoping to dissuade his teacher from failing him.

"I don't know," Kakashi replied lazily in a singsong voice, "Studying isn't the problem. I've seen you hit those books every now and then. You actually got an excellent study habit. The problem is that none of it seems to stick to you."

"I know, sensei, I try, I do, but… but… I'll study even harder. Watch me, not only will my grades get better but I'll also be eligible for class president next year. That's a promise!"

Kakashi snapped close his book at that promise, making a dramatic pause as he eyed the student before him. The blonde was grinning from side to side, nodding to himself, convinced he'll be able to make it._ "Well I give him points for having such high self-esteem but still…"_

"No Naruto," Kakashi said, sighing from the whole ordeal, "I went through your records and decided to take the obvious next course of action," he announced, pausing for another dramatic pause before giving his one-eye smile, "I'm getting you a tutor!"

"…eh?"

"A study-buddy!" The teacher announced cheerfully, like if the problem was solved, "I've still to speak to the student but if I do, are you willing to go with it?"

"Heck Yeah! I'll do anything! Kakashi-sensei!"

"Good," the teacher replied opening his porn book again, "Now you are dismissed. Tomorrow I'll tell you who your partner is."

"Thanks sensei!" Naruto hyped, doing the best he could to restrain himself from hugging his teacher. Feeling energized with new positive energy, the hyperactive boy ran away from the class room, almost bumping onto his woodshop teacher.

**Keyword:** almost.

"Well he seemed livelier," Yamato commented, batting an eye to his silvered haired colleague, "You smooth talker, I bet you came up with the whole tutor thing last minute."

"Tsk, tsk," Kakashi pointed playfully, his one visible eye still smiling in that weird upside down U-form, "It's not nice to eavesdrop."

"Heh," a red eye English teacher commented disapprovingly, running her fair fingers through her wavy dark hair, "Just like you to dump the trouble on other students instead of tutoring the kid yourself."

"Oh Kurenai, I'm hurt," Kakashi said faking tears but then smiling when he lifted a bunch of papers, "besides, where is the fun in that?"

"Now let's see," he picked up Haruno Sakura's name but both teachers shook their heads no, "You're right. Girls her age are more interested in getting the boy than in lending a helping hand."

Then he held Uchiha Sasuke's folder up but yet again both teachers where adamant in saying "no". Something about the Uchiha not being in the right state of mind. Digging deeper into his cabinet of top scores, he held out Hyuuga Hinata's name. Yamato didn't seem to have an opinion about the girl whereas Kurenai seemed to take it into deep consideration. Seeing as none of the two gave an immediate "no", Kakashi smiled again and went through the Hyuuga's grades.

"Hmmm," he pondered, "Hinata it is."

-x-x- (During their fifteen minutes break) -x-x-

"Yeah, I am that great," Ino responded nonchalantly, she just wasn't _that_ into the conversation. Figures that a quick change of clothes and being seen with the right people would make people forget that last week Naruto was a loser. And sure, she loved the way the other girls praised her for making Naruto dress better, Ino herself had to admit she did an exquisite job, but where did that lead her? She did catch an initial stare from the Uchiha but it was so insignificant it did nothing for her popularity. Plus as the day progressed the people were bound to come off their initial shock. By tomorrow the whole event would just be "yesterday's news". The only thing she got out of the deal was a possible carrier as a stylist.

Sakura was seating nearby the girls, fuming as Ino kept answering the other girls' question by always adding, "Naruto and I," to every answer. Something about it pegged her wrong. Naruto hadn't even said "hi" to the pinkette when he arrived today, not that it bothered Sakura. But calling Ino "pretty" was going too far!

Again, the way Ino kept going around the situation with Naruto, the "Naruto and I," the giggles, the wardrobe changes… why? What did Ino hope to achieve with this façade? That's when the answer hit Sakura like a lost bullet on the first day of a New Year. Ino was faking it all. She must have been and it was Sakura's self-appointed job to out her.

"Okay, cut the crap Ino-Pig!" The pinkette seethed as she abruptly interrupted the little chitchat going on, "We all know that the only reason you are being nice to Naruto is because you want to make Sasuke jealous!"

"What did you say?" Ino shouted back with equal fervor. Sure, Sakura was on point with her accusation but Ino wasn't about to get busted like that in front of everybody.

"I said only scum like you would stoop so low as to use Sasuke's best friend like that," Sakura said, tilting her head to the side to reveal a sadistic grin on her delicate features, "But Game-Over, pig, Sasuke-kun doesn't even care if you go out with his best friend so stop toying with Naruto's feelings!" When Sakura finished saying this, a group of girls stood by her side and nodded in agreement.

"The HELL!" Ino leered, "I ain't toying with anybody's feelings," she stated clearly lying through her teeth, "did it ever occur to you that maybe I liked hanging out with the playful and sincere blond?"

At that a group of girls also started backing Ino up, albeit to a lesser degree than Sakura. A group of students also started paying attention to the duel, some of the guys alerting the others of the promise of an incoming catfight.

"Oh please, pig, the only person you like is yourself," the green-eyed girl pronounced smugly, loving how she was going to twist Ino's words against said class president, "We all heard of Naruto's new aspiration and if he becomes class president next year it means that you won't. So I know for a fact that anything you do around him will only be to sabotage him."

Some of the girls at Ino's side moved over to Sakura's, and the crowd (becoming much larger) started gossiping louder when Ino found herself speechless at that instant. The blonde girl was shaken by the fact she had completely overlooked that making Naruto popular wouldn't be beneficial for her in the long run. But now that Sakura had spoken these words people were starting to scowl at Ino. As her cobalt eyes scanned the faces of disapproval in the crowd she understood what was really going on. This was a power outing and like hell was she going to lose to Sakura of all people.

"Listen here, forehead," the flower girl started, reverting to her catty persona, "I don't like the sound of what you're saying but I'm willing to be the bigger person in this and forgive you, after all, jealousy does bring out the worst from self-conscious girls."

"And what exactly am I jealous about, pig?" Sakura inquired, furrowing her pink brows. Ino simply giggled at that.

Mockingly

Ino did have a knack for mind games.

"You say that I'm trying to make Sasuke-kun jealous, but to me it seems that you are just projecting your own insecurities onto him," Ino said, flipping her own hair over her shoulder a.k.a. the female way to gain leverage, "Face it billboard-brow, you are just upset because with me around you no longer have Naruto as your fallback plan when your advances on Sasuke-kun fails."

"Don't try to spin the story, pig, I'm only looking out for my friend!"

"Friend?" Ino bemused laughing loudly at that claim, "Whenever someone disrespects him you are the one who laughs the loudest! And you call yourself his _friend?_"

"I don't lau—"

"Yes you do, Haruno, or have you so easily forgotten how scornful you were towards him at the mall?" Ino inquired loving how the people around reacted when Sakura gasped at that accusation. Now everybody was all ears, eager to learn what had transcended at the mall. Ino herself was wondering why she hadn't considered using this kind of ammunition before.

_-x-o-x- (mini-flashback) –x-o-x-_

"_Can you believe it, Ino? Sasuke just ignored me like that because that stupid Naruto couldn't solve one problem himself! I can't stand Naruto. He is always getting in the way of my love and I think he enjoys seeing me struggle. He doesn't understand anything about me. He is just annoying! All I wanted was for Sasuke-kun to acknowledge me!"_

"_Naruto is just an annoying idiot who gets away with whatever he wants. He is lucky he doesn't have parents to put him in his place. If I did half the things Naruto did my parents would have me grounded for life."_

_-x-o-x- (end of mini-flashback) –x-o-x-_

"That's not fair, Yamanaka, you know how agitated I was that day." Sakura argued, but her body language revealed she felt guilty about something. More girls moved to Ino's side.

"That day? THAT DAY?" Ino baffled, not believing what she was hearing, "Well to me it seems you are always agitated with him," she sneered as she got her point across, "What is he to you anyways? A lackey, a pawn, a failsafe, your lap dog?" she scoffed scornfully at that last name but was secretly enjoying how the crowd was eating up her every word like an addict desperate to get their daily fix.

In Ino's mind, Sakura had it coming for challenging her in the first place and so she felt no guilt when she was about to dish out her ending argument. "Now listen here, crybaby Sakura, 'cause I'm about to tell you what every girl had wanted to tell you from day one. Back the hell off you fucking bitch!"

The halls went silent. (Sakura-bashers danced with glee).

"I-Ino…" the pink haired girl stammered, tears threatening to fall from her once brilliant green eyes, "Y-You didn't have to be so mean," and at that she plopped to the floor, tears falling freely now. Some of the crowd gathered around the frail pinkette and whispered words of comfort to her while rest turned around and frowned at Ino's out of line personal assault.

Ino herself felt like crap when she recalled her harsh words. She really hadn't meant to make Sakura cry. She felt awful. What happened next only made it worst.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto rushed in when he heard his most precious person cry, "what's wrong, Sakura-chan?"

"Oh Naruto," She cried louder, as Naruto carried her to a less crowded area, saying, "Its okay, Sakura-chan, please don't cry."

It was a sweet moment and some of the girls in the crowd even "awwwwwed" at it. Ino wanted to apologize for being so harsh but stopped dead on her tracks when she caught the sinister smirk Sakura sent her way as Naruto carried her out.

After two seconds of confusion…

"_That… that bitch!"_ Ino seethed on the inside, finally realizing that her rival had faked the tears. There was no way Ino could lose a battle against Sakura but that two-faced pinkette had somehow found a leeway to outmatch Ino.

"Sa-ku-ra! This is WAR!"

-x-x- (Some time later at cooking-ed) -x-x-

Cooking Education was a class that taught both domestic ability and refinement. In this elective class, girls were taught how to prepare decent meals and how to keep their kitchen clean at the same time, not to say guys didn't also take this class (like Chouji for example), but the majority here were girls.

Ayame Ichiraku couldn't help but to smile as she supervised her students, Hinata in particular. The Hyuuga girl was usually seen with a timid and shy expression. She had waist long, dark blue hair and fair skin. Her pale violet eyes alone demonstrated she belonged to a different ethnic family not normally found in the United States. Ayame truly believed that in a male dominated society Hinata had all the virtues to be the ideal Japanese woman: loyalty, domestic ability, wisdom, and humility. Though Ayame would prefer if the shy Hyuuga girl could find her own voice and become her own independent women.

Ayame's smile then turned into a frown when she gazed upon another one of her students.

Sakura Haruno was the opposite of Hinata. The pink haired girl was seemingly sweet-tempered but everyone knew she held no qualms about "disciplining" the boys, and that usually ended with one of her herculean punches. She had a high IQ, no hidden plans of her own, because her character and personality were open and straightforward. She did not conceal her social, economic, and sexual intentions (a.k.a. becoming Mrs. Sakura Uchiha). She was someone everybody had known from the very beginning. In short, she was the "girl next door".

But her cooking skills left little to be desired.

"_**That insatiable little pig!"**_ Inner Sakura roared as the Outer Sakura pounded furiously on the cooking doe. _**"Not only did I have to break my friendship with her when she dared fall for the guy I already had my eyes on but she now tries to steal my blond idiot away?" **_Sakura was far from just furious, now she felt downright betrayed. "Isn't there some sort of girl code that prohibits pigs like her to come near another girl's property?" she wondered.

"CHA!" she grumbled, the cooking doe now on the receiving end of her infamous CHA-Combo. She was so into venting her anger on the editable piece of doe that she didn't notice the mess she was causing. Flying pieces of doe landing everywhere on a 360 degrees range.

"Um…um… Sakura?" called a weak voice that could barely be heard over the heavy pounding. "Um… Sakura?" said again the girl with the weak voice but to no avail. "SAKURA!"

"WHAT?" Sakura roared, clearly agitated with the fact that someone dared interrupt her anger therapy session, her green eyes delivering a leveled glare.

"I… um… I…I…" stammered the girl with the weak voice. She was Hinata Hyuuga, heiress to the rumored billion dollar empire of the Hyuuga but no one would've been able to tell she was that rich by the way she behaved. The girl had low self-confidence and she didn't exactly have the leanest body out there. These two things combined didn't do the shy Hyuuga any favors in the high school popularity scale.

"I… um…" Hinata tried to speak up again, but under Sakura's leveled glare the shy Hyuuga could do no more than to fidget her index fingers together. But she wouldn't give up; her crush Naruto would never give up so neither would she. "Mrs. Ayame s-says that if you don't c-control yourself she is going to g-give you detention." She revealed, her voice becoming progressively weaker by the end of her speech.

"Eh?" Sakura pondered, looking over Hinata's shoulder to meet their brunette Cook-Ed teacher's scowl. So after sending an apologetic smile, Sakura returned to her activities in a civilized manner this time. But the thought of Ino still angered her.

This was a dangerous game Ino was playing, of that Sakura was certain. And for now the only way to dethrone the class president was by getting Naruto away from her claws as soon as possible. Problem was, as Sakura recently found out first hand, Ino couldn't be taken down with a direct approach. No, that's how guys dealt their problems. Girls had to be more discreet and manipulative about it. After all, low blows had always been women's best weapon against their oppressors. Sakura had to somehow attack Ino without making it look like if the pinkhead had something to do with it. But how?

The answer was obvious, just by looking at the person beside her she could tell what she had to do. Everybody could tell of Hinata's painfully obvious crush on Naruto except Naruto himself. "_That's it!"_ Naruto was practically already called for even if he didn't know it himself. If Hinata was to advance on Naruto, not even a bitch like Ino would get in the way of true love.

"_**Shannaro! This fairy tale is for real!"**_ Inner Sakura approved.

Problem was Hinata was too shy to do anything on her own account so Sakura figured a little push was due.

"_C'mon Sakura,"_ she petitioned herself, _"You've been doing well so far. Figure it out."_

The fasted way to a guy's heart was food. Sakura knew this and had tried it out with Sasuke but unfortunately the Uchiha turned out to be a picky eater. Naruto wasn't as picky as long as it didn't involve salads. Naruto loved Ichiraku's ramen and Ichiraku's daughter just happened to be their cook-ed teacher.

"_**Could this be any easier?"**_ Inner Sakura prompted, giving out a wild victory dance to celebrate her genius. Outer Sakura remained calm as she faked a smile and made her way toward her teacher. "Um, Mrs. Ayame, can I talk to you for a second, it's really important."

The addressed teacher stopped scrubbing the unused pots, and after wrapping a long with napkin around her long Capricorn hair to keep it from coming to the front, she finally turned her attention to her student. "Hmmm…, you got a minute." She said.

"Well…," Sakura started, mentally cursing herself for not coming up with a decent story before addressing the cook, "It's just that me and the guys had this little um… activity where we were supposed to exchange gifts with each other after school. Yeah aha so… anyways, Hinata lost the gift she was supposed to exchange and now the poor little girl is devastated. I was wondering if could lend her those delicious cookies you baked. She's afraid she's running out of time."

"Ehhh…. Riiiight," Ayame answered disbelievingly, gazing at the oblivious Hinata, "If Hinata wants to bake cookies she can bake them herself. She can cook up a mean and tasty meal. You on the other hand have zero points for taste."

"_**Bitch! My cooking skills are the most nutritional piece of shit you'll ever taste!" **_Inner Sakura roared but Outer Sakura knew better than to insult a teacher. "Okay you saw through my lie," she said, raising her hands like if the police had just screamed 'stop in the name of the law', "It's actually me who wants to give Naruto the best meal of his life as a thank you present for sticking by me."

At the mention of her father's favorite costumer the brunette felt indulged to help out. The teacher did hear the students among the halls gossiping something about Sakura crying and Naruto coming for her rescue. So at least Sakura's story was validated. But did Ayame believed Sakura's intentions? Not for a second. Did this high school girl actually believe she could pull a fast one on the teacher?

Still, Ayame would take any excuse to cook for her father's most devoted costumer. "Fine, but no cookies. I'm making him a decent meal packed with flavor. Come get it after classes are over for the day."

"_Too easy,"_ Sakura thought, now for the second step of the plan. She had to somehow make Hinata give this to Naruto and make him believe it was the Hyuuga girl who did it for him. But how? Shouldn't be too hard, Naruto is way too gullible for his own good.

Heeeeeell Yeeeaaahhhhh

-x-x- (during lunch break) -x-x-

Ino may be blonde but she wasn't dumb. Her catty senses were telling her Sakura was up to something. This war was still too far from being over and so Ino herself had to prepare her own counter measures. But first things first, today she had made a public display about Naruto being with her, but after the events that had transcended, what were people going to think about her when they saw her alleged boytoy run off to the rescue of another woman, and not just any woman, but her rival Sakura.

She had to do some serious image repair before the day was over. And to do so she needed Naruto back on "TEAM INO". Problem was even though she was sitting beside him on the school lawn, he refused to look her way. Still, they were under a tree so she just needed to set things right and make it look romantic for her peers to see.

"Whiskers," she whined, but Naruto would have none of it as he stubbornly refused to look her way after she had made Sakura cry. "Naruto, I'm sorry, I really am. I'll apologize to her later (_like hell I will_) but please don't ignore me."

"You…," Naruto pouted like only he could at his age, indignantly crossing his arms, "you made Sakura-chan cry."

An anger mark appeared on Ino's forehead, _"It's always Sakura-chan with him, but I can't let that two-faced bitch get away with this. Pull yourself together Ino and remain calm."_

Seeing as Naruto stilled refused to face her, she decided to turn on the charm by trying out a hypothesis she developed about him when she had first kissed him last Friday. Placing her fingertips on both of his cheeks, she started tracing the three whisker-like scars across each of them.

"I-I-Ino…?" the male blond stuttered as he tried to move away but the female blond kept him there and gave him a warning glare to keep him down. Again, she started tracing the scars across his skin and was pleasantly surprised when the whiskered teen started shivering under her touch. And even though he was still facing away from her, she could feel how his growing blush heated her fingertips.

"_I knew it!" _she giggled at the thought,_ "he has sensitive cheeks."_

"C'mon, whiskers," she said sweetly, guiding his head to her lap. Naruto protested but ultimately gave in. She was glad she finally made it so that they were facing each other. Naruto looking up at her and she looking down at him. She was even more pleased when she saw how hard he tried to fight his blush from appearing. "Just relax, whiskers, I'm not going to hurt you," she said soothingly, still tracing his scars.

"You promise you'll apologize to Sakura-chan?" he asked sheepishly, trying to avoid making direct eye contact with the first girl who had ever touched him so lovingly. When he felt her nod, he closed his blue eyes and actually started leaning into her touch until he accidentally purred.

This caught both blondes by surprise but before Naruto could come up with some lame excuse to make a quick getaway from the embarrassing situation, Ino held him down and kissed his forehead. The act was enough to cease all of his motor skills.

"Don't worry, whiskers, it'll be our little secret, okay?"

"T-Thanks," he muttered, smiling bashfully before making eye contact with her again. That's when he gave her his big reassuring smile and said, "I guess now we have something that binds us, ne?"

Now it was Ino's turn to blush, albeit to a lesser degree than Naruto since she already knew how to mask her emotions like all the cool kids did. He closed his eyes again to let the flower-scented girl do whatever she liked with his cheeks. It was really the first time any girl had treated him that tenderly and he decided that he liked the feeling, a lot.

The sight of those two sharing a moment had many gossiping about how the two blondes had just survived their first fight as a couple. But more often than not, there were those who gossiped about a possible love triangle between Ino, Naruto and Sakura.

Another person, an Uchiha to be exact, sat not too far away from the blondes. Said person had a permanent scowl on his flawless face. At first, Sasuke had been to some degree relieved to find Ino with Naruto. This meant one less restraining order he'll have to fill out in the near future.

Sasuke was not fond of his fangirls, at all.

But he soon discovered that the constant giggling coming from those two unnerved him to no end. It wasn't the first time he had witnessed PDA (Public Display of Affection) so why were the actions of those two in particular making him so edgy?

When he turned to scowl at the blondes, his eyes widened. If this were a musical, the soundtrack of his heart shattering like glass would have been played in repeat when Ino kissed Naruto's forehead. If this were a storybook, the author would've written about how the Uchiha's cold heart melted at the sight of Naruto's 1000wats smile. If this were an anime, the Uchiha's dark eyes would have turned red as the anger inside of him boiled. But since this was neither of the three, Sasuke did the next best thing. He looked away and brooded, causing many female stalkers to faint from fangirl-overload. This was the first time these girls had seen that many array of emotions on the normally stoic avenger.

-x-x- (some time later) -x-x-

It felt awkward, to be honest, going from being publicly ignored or ridiculed to being admired and desired. It wasn't anywhere near as much as the amount of attention Sasuke received on a daily basis but it still had a mind-blowing effect on Naruto. Fortunately or unfortunately for the young president wannabe, class rep Ino took full advantage of his lack of response as she effortlessly paraded him around the school campus, taking extra enjoyment in frequenting all the places Sakura was in.

Forget making Sasuke jealous, Ino was on a quest for personal vengeance.

At that same time, Sakura had just received from Mrs. Ayame a small plastic box with Naruto's meal safely secured inside. Taking a pen and a loose sheet of paper, the girl with the sizeable forehead scribbled down a quick note and hid it with the meal._ "Perfect!"_ She thought. Once Naruto read that note he was sure to fall in love with Hinata… speaking of which. "Hinata!" She called, catching up with blue haired girl as she put her books away.

"Y-Yes, Sakura," the shy girl responded.

"Do me a favor and give this to Naruto for me, okay? Good, later!" Sakura said, forcing the meal into Hinata's hands before the timid girl could respond, and then she took off because she knew of Hinata's incapability to say no. _**"Ino you are so going to lose. This fairytale IS for real!"**_

Hinata was left standing there with a package meant for the person she admired the most. Hinata was shaking terribly under her pale jacket. "F-For N-Na-Na-Na-Na-Naruto-kun?"

-x-x- (meanwhile) -x-x-

The halls of Konoha High were always rowdy, their studies always having something to talk and laugh about. It was something the School Principal Tsunade prided herself with. Creating a healthy atmosphere where students could be themselves but also reach high academic achievements. However, today one of the rowdiest sophomores wasn't exactly enjoying himself, in fact he had been growling, verging on biting off whoever came too close to him, ever since this morning.

Beside the grumpy Inuzuka stood a silent and passive Aburame leaned against the wall.

"Kiba…" said the calm and collected one of the two.

"WHAT?" Kiba barked

"Your scaring people off," Shino commented, completely unaffected by Kiba's bark.

"Their problem if they can't handle it."

"By 'it' you mean your constant growling?"

"Yeah well… well… who asked you anyways?"

Shino took a moment to study Kiba, not that anyone would notice since the Aburame's face was barely visible. He wondered what had Kiba so irritable today. Shino had been by Kiba's side all day and so far no one had insulted, confronted or ditched the tattooed brunet so why the attitude?

Taking note of Kiba's outfit, Shino decided to try out a different approach, "Nice t-shirt you have on, it's a different color for you."

"Oh so you noticed," Kiba's face light up with a smile, shamelessly checking himself out, "I normally don't wear yellow but when I saw it today it kinda reminded me of Naru…N-Na I mean Nachos! It reminded me of cheese and nachos."

"…nachos?" Shino inquired, raising an eyebrow. But again, nobody noticed because his dark green hoodie hid the upper part of his face. By now the calm and collected teen speculated that the reason Kiba was so mad had something to do with Naruto, but what? "Hmm, Naruto also wore something new today. Does it make you angry that he got more attention than you?"

"What do you take me for, a girl?" Kiba snapped angrily, "The only reason Naruto has gotten more attention is because Ino is practically parading him around the campus. Can you believe her? You should have seen how she treated the guy at the mall. Like if he was beneath her feet and now all of the sudden she acts like they're best buds? What the fuck, man, what the fuck?"

Kiba's territorial instincts were flaring.

"Hmm," Shino analyzed, "if memory serves me well, and I believe it does, not four days ago you went from trying to publicly humiliate Naruto to defending him from Neji. If you can have a change of heart, why can't she?"

"That's not what I… I mean it's not like…. Fuck you!"

"Smooth comeback," Shino said sarcastically, "Is there something you are not telling me because so far it seems that you are angry at something completely unfounded."

"Well who asked for your opinion anyways? And who said I was angry?"

"You've been barking at everyone who has tried so much as to speak to you."

"Well… well… go chase a mosquito! I'm not one of your bugs so I would appreciate it if you stopped observing me."

"It's called worrying about a friend."

"Dahhh, I know, I know. Seesh, throw me a bone here, will ya? Will it kill you to let me have the final say?"

"It could, but we will never find out until it happens."

Kiba couldn't help but to smirk at Shino's witty comebacks. "You're ten types of creepy, you know that." The Inuzuka said, his foul mood no longer evident. What could he say? His bug-collecting friend knew how to handle him. It's always good to have those types of friends around but right now the brunet felt he was missing out on a different type of friend. The type of friend he could see in Naruto. Heck, he even told himself, "Self, this is a guy I can be best buddy with and hang out." Don't get Kiba wrong. He liked being around Shino but that guy didn't like to just '_hang'_ around from time to time.

The dog lover sighed, "Look, Shino, if you must know. I left Akamaru at home because I wanted to… uh… get to know Naruto better." _"God that sounded gay"_Kiba reprimanded himself.

"So you're upset that other people are taking from you your Naruto time?" Shino asked, but it was more of a statement.

"In a way, yeah, you could say that." Kiba offered, trying to find a way to make it sound like if he wasn't desperate for companionship, "You know I'm the only guy in my household, just wanted to do guy stuff, ya know, with someone who'll actually take their coat off when we go to the beach and help me attract girls" _"Plus I wouldn't mind wrestling with him from time to time"_

Shino was about to retort to that remark when Hinata suddenly came into view, looking disheveled. "Hinata, is something bothering you?"

"Ah, Shino-kun" she answered, slightly bowing, "Kiba-kun," she proceeded, "I-I-I have t-t-to…Sa-Sakura asked me t-to… a-and… here!" she said, hastily shoving a package into Kiba's hands, "I can't do it, I'm sorry, I'll be braver next time. But please give this to Naruto-kun. Sorry," and with that she left, probably running straight home to land on her bed and cry on her pillow.

"What was that about?" Kiba asked aloud and Shino provided him with his observations. "By the smell of it, it seems Hinata cooked something for Naruto. Probably an attempt to come forth about her feelings for him, I would say. But in the end that task was too much for her and now she has asked us the deliver the meal for her sake."

"_Her feelings?"_ the tattooed brunet repeated to himself, wondering why it left such a foul taste in his mouth. Of course he knew about her feelings for the blond but he had never felt a tight knot in his stomach about it, so why did he felt it now? He could feel his territorial instincts flaring again. But that was just wrong. He had seen what this type of things did to people's friendships if Sakura and Ino were any example of it.

Wait. What was Kiba thinking? Hinata and him weren't fighting for the same guy. He didn't have a crush on Naruto. That would be absurd. A guy falling for another guy? Impossible! That would make Kiba g-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga…

"Here," Kiba suddenly said, shoving the package into Shino's hands, "I can't do this right now!" he stated as he excused himself from the situation and made a run for it. The teen with the triangular tats had some things he needed to figure out alone.

"Interesting," Shino commented lowly, wondering why Kiba had stormed off like that. The hooded teen would have to figure it out later, though. He couldn't let the food grow cold. It took him some time, but the bug-catcher managed to spot Naruto before he left the school premises.

"Naruto?" he said calmly as he made his way to the blond in question, "Hinata will like you to have this."

"Eh?" the blond responded, double blinking at the statement, "what's in the box and why didn't she give it to me herself?"

"Not my story to tell," Shino simply answered, handing over the package. His task was done but chose to stay in case Naruto wanted a message delivered to Hinata. Said blonde's features lightened up when he caught whiff of the heavenly smell of ramen. The only thing that stopped the blond from outright devouring his gift was the small note he found attached to it. The note Sakura had placed there without anybody knowing. It read,

**-I've been in love with you for the longest time but I am just too shy to say it aloud. That's why I am writing it now. Pay no attention if I say that I'm delivering this home-cooked meal on somebody else's behalf-**

To say Naruto was shocked would've been saying little. He was torn beyond repair. In front of him stood a guy whose eyes he had never seen. And out of nowhere this guy was feeding the blond and confessing love? What was Naruto supposed to in this type of situation? Plus it was a guy who was confessing for kami's sake!

Naruto did what he did best when he needed to escape from an awkward situation. He laughed it off. He squinted his eyes shut, forced a smile on and scratched the back of his head as he discreetly crept away from Shino. Once a decent distance apart, the blond yelled "sorry" and made a run for it, with the food of course. He wasn't the type to let food get wasted.

Shino simply stood there with his hands stuff in his pockets, wandering why people were all of the sudden running out on him. Raising an arm he sniffed his armpit. "I don't smell, do I?"

-x-x- (At the local Starbucks, three hours after classes ended) -x-x-

It had been arranged by team seven to meet up here and continue with their math project. It was at an hour everybody would be available plus it gave each of them time to go back to their respective homes and shower off that school stench away from their high school bodies.

Naruto and Sasuke were already there but Sakura, courtesy of her mom, was running a little late because her mom made a few stops before dropping Sakura off to Starbucks. When the female member of the team arrived, Naruto and Sasuke were already sitting next to each other, solving their respective proofs and theories. Half of her wanted to squeal fangirl style at the sight of her crush so diligently working on his studies but the other side, her more calculative side, begged to differ at the current team formation.

The two males were sitting at one side of a rectangular table that could easily serve four people comfortably if the latter two sat at the other side of said table. Meaning, the closest she could sit by Sasuke was across the table, leaving a world of human crafted wood and metal standing between her and her crush.

This wouldn't do. Her only solution? Remove Naruto.

The Uchiha's inner fangirl-tracking radar started beeping. He could already tell Sakura had arrived.

The survival skills of the teen prankster alerted him of one set of eyes focused to the back of his head. Turning around, his eyes connected to Sakura's. _"Sakura-chan is looking at… me? Not at Sasuke…?"_ The thought of this made the blond feel warm on the inside, his face lighting up at the prospect of it. "Hi Sakura-chan!" he waved eagerly at her, a wide grin accompanying his boyish features. Not that said features ever had an effect on Sakura.

As a bad reflex, the pinkette was about to order Naruto to move it, but reconsidering the fight that had transcended with Ino, she decided to dismiss her smiling teammate in a less aggressive but strategic way. "Hey there Naruto," she exhaled, wiping the imaginary sweat off her forehead, "God, my legs are killing me from running all the way here," she exhaled loudly again, feigning to be tired out.

Naruto, as usual, was quick to eat up everything the love of his life said. Sasuke, not blinded by her charms in the least bit, could clearly see through her act. Sakura wasn't sweating, wasn't hyperventilating, and there wasn't a hair out of place on her. Still, he chose to remain silent.

Sakura, still going through her act, looked downcast so her bangs would cover her eyes as she pulled some bills from her wallet. Then, she slowly lifted her face to give Naruto a shy look and added, "If I don't get a cold drink with something to eat soon I might just collapse. But I don't think I'll be able to stand in that long line." And to emphasize this, she slowly massaged her legs, feigning to be hurt.

Again, her legs looked perfectly normal. Sasuke figured the legs would've been at least a little swollen if Sakura's claim of running all the way here had any truth behind it. Yet once again, Sasuke chose not to comment on her obvious lie. Naruto, on the other hand, was a different story.

"I'll do the line for you!" the blond offered, proudly puffing his chest out, "Just leave it to me, Sakura-chan!"

"You're too sweet, I possibly couldn't ask that from you," the pinkette responded with her words, yet her body clearly spoke a different language as her hands practically shoved the bills onto Naruto's and then dismissed him. The instant Naruto left, Sakura unceremoniously flopped down where the blond had previously sat, and sent a flirty smile to Sasuke's direction.

Sasuke… he was never the type to wallow in self-pity but this was the closest he had ever come to wanting to face-plant himself on a piece of concrete. Now he wished he would have said something earlier. It turned out worse when his fangirl-tracking radar started beeping for a second time. _"…fuck no!"_

Naruto came back ten minutes later, but instead finding his team studying like he had expected, he was met with a seriously pissed off looking Sasuke, with Ino and Sakura bickering behind him. Ino had been running an errand for her daddy but the instant she spotted Sasuke and Sakura sitting together she had to interfere.

Because Ino and Sakura were arguing right behind the raven haired teen's chair, the Uchiha was left with no escape routes. He was growing more irritated by the second but he wouldn't lose his composure. Uchihas didn't lose their composure and so neither would Sasuke. Thankfully he had already prepared himself for this kind of situations. Taking out a stress ball from his backpack, he started squeezing his anger away. As he did, his imagination started taking over again until he warped his mind to a world of his own where neither Ino nor Sakura's voice could reach him. In this world the only thing he could hear was a heart beat. Itachi's heartbeat! Sasuke was holding Itachi's heart on the palm of his hand and the avenger was laughing maniacally every time he squeezed his elder's brother's defenseless heart.

Imagination sure was a powerful thing.

Back to the real world, Ino and Sakura were still bickering with one another.

"I-Ino?" Naruto whispered quizzically, but it was loud enough for Ino to hear. Turning away from Sakura in favor to meet with the person that had called her name, she almost flinched -closing her eyes- when she saw Naruto dressed again in that drop-dead hideous -God Kill me Now- orange jumpsuit. Forcing her eyes open to see him again, she tried to focus on anything that wasn't orange. Her cobalt eyes landed on the tray of food he was carrying and without even realizing it she asked aloud, "You can eat something other than ramen?"

"Eh," Naruto said, blinking twice before realizing what she meant, "oh this," he said lifting the tray for everyone to see, "This is for Sakura-chan!" he announced proudly.

A vein bulged out of Ino's forehead as she narrowed her eyes at the girl beside him, "You fucked up bitch! Now you treat him as your waiter!"

"Sakura-chan is not a bitch!" Naruto retorted angrily before Sakura herself had a chance to defend herself, "I bought this for Sakura-chan because I wanted to, so stop insulting her!" he finished, clearly hurt and frustrated by Ino's comment.

It was not the first time a guy had raised his voice against Ino, but Naruto? The flower girl didn't like the feel of it, not one bit. Yet her eyes couldn't stray from his, even when his eyes clearly expressed how hurt he was that she had insulted Sakura. _"It's always Sakura-chan for you, isn't that right, Naruto."_ The purple-clad girl asked herself, even though it was more of a confirmation. Like the rest of the people today, Ino herself was having trouble placing her feelings for Naruto. Last week she couldn't have given a damn about him but those few moments she had spent with him had awakened something in her.

"Naruto," she muttered his name softly, trying out the feel of it. She still couldn't place what she was feeling right now but she did know she didn't like it when he was mad at her. "Can we talk, in private?" she said looking down. This coming out from the normally confident Ino made Naruto drop his glare instantly. "Sure," he answered, placing Sakura's tray on the table before escorting Ino out of the establishment.

Once out, Naruto spoke up before Ino even had a chance to clear out her case. "I'm sorry for yelling," Naruto said, looking ashamed of himself, "Iruka-sensei once told me that no matter the situation, one should never raise their voice at a girl, so… I'm sorry."

"Hmm," Ino pondered, wandering if their teacher Iruka was the person Naruto visited when he needed advice. She knew he didn't get it from his parents. That last though made her wonder how Naruto would've been like if he had a mother to pick out his clothes for him. And that last thought had her thinking that she was thinking way too much. Naruto said he was sorry so she might as well make a trade. "'kay, whiskers," she said, "I'll forgive you if you forgive me for calling Sakura a bitch."

This got her a nod from her fellow blond. She also realized for the first time that she had subconsciously chosen a pet name for him, "whiskers." But all this little revelations she was having did little to ease the developing hatred she was feeling for Sakura and she'll be damned if this day ended without her telling a few non lady-like things to said pinkette. But she couldn't do it around Naruto. She doubted he'll forgive her a third time today. And so she came up with a plan.

"Look, whiskers, I need some time alone with Sakura to clear some things out with her. But I am also running late on an errand for my daddy. Could you deliver this receipt at the store over there for me?"

Naruto looked at her for a moment with a serious expression, but then he smiled at her and said "sure thing". She gave him the direction and told him to tell the owner to wrap the exchange for the receipt. As Naruto left to run this errand, Ino couldn't help but to feel some slight pity for the guy. He really was a good guy, and like all good guys, he was bound to finish last.

Now for the matter at hand, she was about to bitch-slap her pink rival.

Arriving at the appointed store, the nice boy felt a little disoriented when he noticed the store was in fact a doll house, every set of plastic eyes staring down at him. Yikes, he started to feel like if he had entered the realm of a cheap horror film.

"Hey, chump!" said a black wearing brunet who stood behind the cash register, "Are you going to stand there all day or are you actually going to buy something?"

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto waved it off, "Shouldn't an employee be nicer to their customers?"

"Sorry but you don't look like the type of person who would willingly come here." The employee said, eyeballing the blond, "Nope, I doubt you'll ever be able to get a girl friend in that ugly getup."

"Oh yeah!" Naruto challenged, pointing an accusing finger towards his offender, "What about you? What kind of guy works at a doll house, you pansy!"

"Who are you calling a pansy, you brat, and don't you know it's rude to point at people?"

"I'm calling YOU a pansy, and don't you know that the costumer is always right?"

"Ah, touché," the cashier replied, smirking to himself. He decided this blond was an okay person. "The name is Kankurou, so what can I do for you today?"

"Ah…" Naruto smartly responded, for a second there forgetting why he was here in the first place, "Oh that's right, Ino wanted me to deliver this receipt while she spoke to Sakura-chan. The name is Naruto Uzumaki, by the way"

Kankurou obviously had no idea who these two girls were but as he accepted the receipt, something about what the blond had said picked his interest. "-chan?" he asked as he searched for the contents asked in the receipt.

"Oh, -chan is a Japanese honorific," the blond explained when he saw Kankurou come out with a limited edition doll apparently called Flora. The blond then added, "Could you wrap it?"

"Sure thing," Kankurou replied before asking, "So I take it this Sakura girl is Japanese then."

"Eh, no she's not."

"Then why do you call her –chan?"

"Because… because…" Naruto stopped at that. _"Why do I call her 'Sakura-chan'?"_ His memory went back to three years ago when the class found out that Sasuke was half Japanese on his mother's side. The girls, in an attempt to win the heart of the Uchiha, rammed an unsuspecting Hinata with tons of questions about the Japanese culture since the Hyuugas themselves were also Japanese. The poor Hyuuga girl didn't stood a chance against an army of Sasuke-fangirls. When the girls learned about the honorifics they started using it on a daily basis and it soon became the lasted "it" thing at school. Naruto himself started attaching the –chan to Sakura's name in hopes to impress her. Ultimately the use of honorifics didn't win the girls any favors with the Uchiha but it did leave its permanent mark on the students. But now that Naruto thought about it, every time he used a Japanese honorific it could basically be seen as the same thing as kissing the Uchiha's ass. That left a bad taste on Naruto's mouth.

"Here," Kankurou announced, placing a perfectly wrapped gift in front of his costumer, "has that empty space of yours where your brain should be been able to come up with an answer?"

"Hmph!" Naruto scowled at the insult but let it slide, "I did come up with an answer but I have decided it doesn't matter anymore. I'm not using the honorifics anymore. The future president of the United States of America shouldn't be talking like a Japanese man. Later!" he stated as he picked the gift and waved goodbye to Kankurou.

"President he says," the bulky cashier pondered as he scratched his shin, "Why do I feel like if I've seen this blond brat before?"

-x-x- (Back at Starbucks) -x-x-

Naruto came in and, surprise surprise, he found Ino and Sakura bickering with each other again. The only difference this time was that Sasuke was no longer there. "Hey, girls!" he said, making his presence evident, "Where did chicken-butt head go?"

"Huh?" both girls said in unison when they noticed that Sasuke was indeed gone. How did the avenger manage to escape without them noticing, the girls may never found out. This meant that again their studies were left undone. Sighing loudly, Sakura picked up her phone and called her mom to pick her up. If Sasuke wasn't here anymore, she saw no point in her being here as well. What was she to do? Study with Naruto?

Observing this, Naruto also picked up his belongings and asked Sakura if she wanted him to stay until her mom came to pick her up. Sakura laughed at it and told him that she was her own independent woman and didn't need boys protecting her. At that, Naruto turned to Ino and asked her if she needed him to walk her home. The female blonde was about to say "no" because she couldn't be seen with Naruto while he was wearing his hand-me-downs, but when he offered to carry her things and gave her that smile of his, the clothes he had on didn't matter anymore.

"Sure thing, whiskers, daddy is still at work so he can't come to pick me up anyways." she said smiling, but then giggled when she added, "Plus a hot little girl like myself can't afford to walk alone at this late hour. Who knows what could happen to me."

Sakura rolled her eyes at that comment but Naruto actually laughed with Ino, "Don't worry," he reassured jokingly flexing what muscle he had, "No harm will come your way while Super Naruto is around to save the day!" he joked in a superhero voice.

"Oh now I feel safe," Ino continued joking. Talking with Naruto sure was easy, probably because of his goofy persona.

"Later Sakura!" Naruto waved as he left with Ino, completely unaware of the shocked expression on both girls' faces.

"W-What did you say?" the pink haired girl asked, confusion evident on her voice.

"I said 'Later Sakura'," Naruto repeated and again both girls left their jaws drop. Because Sakura had seemingly lost her voice, Ino was the one to ask him why he didn't use the –chan suffix on Sakura's name; his answer was that it was no longer worth it. Sakura flinched at those words. _"Did Naruto just mean I'm not worth it?"_ Of course that wasn't what the orphan meant, but the girls weren't aware of the conversation Naruto had with Kankurou.

Sakura didn't even realized how much time had passed since Naruto left with Ino but her mom was already there, hitting the horn of her car to get her distraught daughter's attention. It was just so weird. For the longest time Sakura had heard her friend call her "Sakura-chan" and now that he didn't, it just felt like something inside of her had died.

Maybe the one who said, "You don't know what you got until you lose it." was right about it. It matter not to Sakura, What did matter was that she was sure this had something to do with Ino involving herself in Naruto's life. _"Yeah, that it! Ino is brain washing Naruto!"_

"Ino…," Sakura seethed, "You are playing a dangerous game here but trust me when I say this. You ain't taking Naruto away from me."

"Ever."

**-x-x- (End of Chapter Five: "Jealousy has green eyes") -x-x-**

**A/N: **_Whoot! So many awakened emotions in this chapter! It seems Naruto and Ino are becoming closer as the days progresses but what will happen when Naruto finally realizes that to achieve his dream he'll have to dethrone Ino. As we have already seen, even though Naruto has warmed himself into Ino's heart she still holds no qualms about manipulating him. What will she do if her position is ever threatened? _

_Next chapter will feature Hinata, of course, this also means another round of the inevitable Naruto vs Neji._

_Special thanks to __**CalculusNova**__ for giving me the idea of how to explain the usage of the honorifics in this. I also thank __**Sodapops**__ for the suggestion of the stress ball as a way for Sasuke to relief his anger. If anyone else wants to feed Sasuke's imagination all you have to do is PM me. Please leave some feedback! Later!_


	6. The Real Caged Bird

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _NARUTO_, if I did, Neji would have already verbally assaulted every single Akatsuki member that had dared cross paths with Konoha.

**A/N: **Sorry for taking this long. I actually had the chapter written like a month ago but I didn't like how I wrote it. And after many attempts at correcting it I finally figured I'll never be pleased with it so I rather just post it and get on to the other chapters.

"speech"

"_thoughts"_

"_**inner sakura"**_

**Warning:** Neji Hyuuga

_**-x-x-x- (I want to change myself into something… something better) -x-x-x-**_

**Chapter Six: "The Real Caged Bird"**

Remember those days when you woke up to find that your hair was perfectly manageable, that your clothes fitted you just the way you wanted them to, that the teachers eased up on you and that you managed to talk to the person you liked without laughing randomly at jokes he/she didn't make?

Do you remember those days?

The students of Konoha High do remember, and that's why they would probably tell you with infallible accuracy that today was not one of those days.

Today the teachers were set on singling out and humiliating every single one of their students, and they abusively committed said self-righteous act under the banner of "discipline". And to make it worse, this act of disciplining their students began to manifest itself even before the first period started.

Impressively enough the first to fall victim to it was a girl who stood at the top of the food chain. Yamanaka Ino.

The moment the platinum blonde had opened her locker, dozens and dozens of random birth control pills and condoms had poured out of it, piling up into an impressive mountain of sex provisions. Students around the hall were impressed and somewhat appalled by the sheer number and variety of condoms exposed, from every flavor, to every size and sensation. There was even a fluorescent one incase it was one of those really dark nights. Many of the guys whistled at the sight.

It didn't take long for the impressive figure of Tsunade, the principal of Konoha High, to loom over the apparently sexually insatiable teenager. And in a loud and commanding voice that left no room for argument, Tsunade said "Yamanaka Ino, my office, NOW!"

What transcended in that office after Ino had followed her superior into what probably would be her own death sentence left a heavy smudge on her reputation. The fact that the whole school could hear Tsunade's heavy scolding probably did Ino no favors. The students could even swear they heard a desk being broken in two.

On a side note, their theology professor Hidan was already preparing and sacrificial altar to Lord Jashin on the Yamanaka's behalf.

Ino, of course claimed that none of it was hers but such pleads coming from a girl with a reputation such as hers did nothing but to anger even more the supreme authority of Konoha High. Tsunade felt like if Ino was trying to make a sucker out of her.

"Have you no dignity?" were the words that carried across the halls, followed by the sound effects of piles of paper being forcefully thrown against the door, "What would the parents think when they find out that their daughters are walking around with birth control pills? What about our school image? Do you want everyone to think I house _whores_? What about your respect as a woman? To bring these kind of things at a school… to MY school! I ought to expel you right now! No! I'll do something better, young lady. I'm writing your parents… a letter!"

And hence not only were Ino's parents notified of the events but she was also banned from wearing anything that revealed her perfectly toned stomach to her peers, meaning she wouldn't be able to abuse of her sex appeal to secure her spot at the top of the popular hierarchy for the time being.

But it didn't stop there. Oh no, that would've been all too easy.

Ino was forced to sit in the middle of their theatre stage while Tsunade had the school nurse and the girls' female P.E. coach, Shizune and Anko Mitarashi respectably, give a rather embarrassing lecture on the dangers of being sexually active. And whereas Shizune tried to be professional about the number of sexually transmitted diseases out there and the hormonal stage where teenagers felt urges to touch themselves and others around them, Anko was pretty gruesome about how some of these diseases would literary eat away at their flesh. And she was even more explicit, and some may even say vulgar, about the many ways a girl could "get off" without having to undergo sexual intercourse.

Many of Ino's followers wanted to aid her but they knew better than to interrupt Mrs. Mitarashi's monologue. The school campus knew it was better not to enrage teachers like Anko and Kurenai.

Ino felt herself shrink when she felt her peers laugh at her expense and grew angry with the number of cat calls and depictive whistles thrown her way. But more importantly she could feel how her blood would boil every time the has-been Ami would send her a mocking grin. Ino could easily put two and two together. _"That bitch set me up."_

The short haired valley girl known as Ami simply checked Ino off from her bubble gum scented list of girl's reputation to ruin (read: all of the girls that were more popular than Ami herself).

The guys were all smiles during that morning, that is, until one of their own was singled out next. **The prey** was no other than Konoha's rowdiest, Kiba Inuzuka; **the Predator**, Orochimaru.

The alumni had been warned beforehand that today's lab class would be about dissecting a mammal in order to identify its respiratory, digestive, reproductive and cardiovascular system. Yet somehow because of some "miscommunication" there would only be one pig to dissect and so their lab teacher decided that only one student will dissect the animal for all eyes to see. That student would be Kiba.

The pretext for the selection was that the brunet had low scores and needed to make up for it.

Normally this wouldn't be a problem for the rowdy teenager, that is, if the animal about to be dissected was really a pig. But all eyes could clearly see it was no pig. It was in fact a dog, a hairless dog, and the student didn't need to strain their eyes to notice it was of the same breed as Akamaru, Kiba's faithful dog and best friend.

The Inuzuka's Achilles' heel if Orochimaru would've so deemed it.

The moment Kiba went on to do the first nick at the dog's skin, it gave out a low growl that only he and his teacher could hear. The brunet's eyes darted off toward the snake eyes of his teacher, in search for something that told him that the dog wasn't still alive. But snake eyes only revealed sin as Orochimaru hissed and claimed that Kiba was stalling.

It didn't take long for the ever observant Shino to figure out what was really going on, and he would've aided Kiba if the Inuzuka's grade wasn't at risk. Surely Kiba could endure a little torture.

Low growls kept being emitted from the K-9 as Kiba's unsteady hands dissected it, and even though Mr. Orochimaru's claimed with sadistic satisfaction that the "pig" was already dead, the dog loving teen knew the animal was simply sedated.

Mr. Orochimaru let Kiba return to his seat once he finished dissecting the cardiovascular system (read: once the dog stopped growling… for good). The moment the bell rang all of his peers wondered why he darted off of the room, leaving all his belongings behind for Shino to carry. But Kiba had to take a run to the boy's room. He couldn't let his unshed tears fall in the presence of others, tears that weighted heavy because of the dog he just slain.

"Kukuku… young boys are so easy to manipulate," the snake murmured with a pleased demeanor, taking the growl recorder from the dog's mouth. Because of school regulations and that inconvenient animal rights junk, Orochimaru couldn't really have a sedated dog. It was already dead and prepared, if it wasn't, it would have been a bloody mess to dissect. But of course Kiba didn't need to know that. "That'll teach the brat not to call me a pedophile again, even if the name wasn't that farfetched itself, kukukuku…"

Yet the sins for which Ino and Kiba were punished, vanity and disrespect of the elderly, were of a minor category compared to one of the seven deadly sins, and Gluttony was one of them.

The Sinner: Akamichi Chouji.

The Punisher: Maito Gai.

During gym class, Gym teacher Maito Gai, sporting his visually scarring green spandex, ordered the boys to get their weight-ins, meaning they had to undress to do so. That's when the robust voice of the said green beast announced his most recent discovery.

"OH MY GOD YOU ARE ONE OF THE FATTEST PIECE OF YOUTH DEPRIVED FLESH I HAVE EVER SEEN!" Shouted their _extreme _teacher, "How could I've been so blind not to notice how tubby and severely out of shape you were, and at the springtime of your youth no less!"

"I'm not fat!" Chouji protested, launching a punch towards his offender. Said punch was easily caught by pure reflex alone by his ripped offender. Gai probably didn't even notice the assault as his youthful eyes kept measuring the body fat of his student.

"Oh forgive me for my negligence!" wallowed the coach, taking both of Chouji's meaty hands into a strong grip, his tearful face no further away from Chouji than Kakashi's to his Icha Icha Novels.

"Look deep into my eyes and accept my sincere apology for letting you get _this_ fat. Also notice my handsome manly features."

"Gai-sensei you are the coolest!" Rock Lee (a.k.a. Gai's mini-me) chipped in when Gai's manly smile… dazzled.

Chouji was about to protest yet again that he wasn't fat but the youthfulness of the spandex wearing duo prevented it. Gai just kept commenting on how fat Chouji was as he kept grabbing fistfuls of body fat from his overweight student.

"Oh how could I have been so careless to let this poor fat boy be robbed of the joys of being well-built like me in his adolescent years? Starting today we will help you permit your power of youth to explode! Lee! Help me out here!"

"Ay Aye, Gai-sensei!" Rock Lee shouted in what was to be dubbed his 'Declaration of Passion' yell. Then he turned to obese schoolmate and continued yelling, "Do not fret my young fat friend," _(Choiji: __**"I'm not fat!!!!")**_ "I, the handsome young devil of Konoha High will aid you in every step of the way to help you achieve your goal."

Lee then delivered with passion his 'good guy pose' for all eyes to see. "We will do a hundred push-ups my fat friend, but if we cannot do a hundred push-ups we will do two hundred sit-ups instead. But if cannot do two hundred sit-ups then will shall jump rope a thousand times! But if we cannot jump…"

At that point the rest of the guys had to turn away from the sight. There was nothing more heartbreaking than witnessing their fat- erm- chubby friend on the verge of tears.

Still, not to be outdone by all who came before him, Uzumaki Naruto also had some justice to administer.

**The victim:** Neji Hyuuga.

**The crime scene:** The boy's locker room.

**The article used to orchestrate the crime:** Neji's Head & Shoulders Shampoo Bottle.

**The evidence:** Neji's orange hair.

Neji was not only perturbed, he was fuming because someone had dared tampered with his daily hair products. And no, it wasn't because his perfect hair could have ended up with split ends – god forbids he ever gets split ends – but because his hair was now dyed in an unhealthy shade of orange… asymmetrically.

The culprit, it was painfully obvious.

Neji sat two desks behind the blond prankster, unnerved by how resistant the back of the blond's head was to his Hyuuga death glare. Naruto was just sitting peacefully on his desk, the rays of sunlight that filtered through the windows hitting the contempt smile on his whiskered face. Dammit, the way the sunlight reflected itself upon the golden locks of the teen prankster made it seem like if he had a halo hovering over his head. But Neji's all seeing eyes could clearly see the horns on Naruto's head that kept that halo there.

Still, as good as Naruto's prank was it still had a major flaw. He was not a teacher; hence he didn't have "immunity" from the vicious cycle of cause and effect. So it really was no surprise to anyone when at the end of their classes Naruto was asked to stay behind by their social studies teacher. Apparently Naruto was next in line to get a heavy scolding. That's why when Kakashi asked Hinata to also stay after class she started to sweat bullets. Her mind going through all the possible things she could have done wrong. She got scolded a lot at home, she wasn't sure if she could handle being scolded at in school as well.

On a side-note, Neji left class with a very happy smile on his handsome face. Or as close to smiling as he'll ever be.

As usual, both Naruto and Hinata were waiting beside Kakashi's desk. But as expected, their teacher was nowhere to be seen. When said teacher finally arrived, he sat at his chair, placed his feet above his desk and pulled out a little orange book with a Rated-M cover.

The decency to even salute his students he did not have.

The shy Hinata did not voice any complaints, hoping not to inconvenience the authority of the room; Naruto however did not share the same sentiment as his blue eyes squinted at the sight of his silvered hair superior.

"You're late, Mr. Hatake!"

"Ah, Naruto, didn't see you there," Kakashi humored, not taking his eyes of his unruly hentai novel, "Why are you here again?"

"How the hell should I know?!" the blue eyed teen practically yelled, pointing an accusing finger towards his inquirer, "You're the one who called us here! And stop reading that book when talking to other people. Mr. Iruka says it's rude!"

"But reading is what makes us smarter!" the adult countered melodiously until he realized the words used by his student_. "Mr. Iruka? Wait, he called me Mr. Hatake earlier, didn't he?"_ Nevertheless he decided to get to the matter at hand. "Naruto, do you know why I called you here today?"

"Erm…" the addressed student pondered, linking both his hands behind his blond mess of hair, "Does it have something to do with Hinata being here?"

"Yeah… maybe" Kakashi answered, agreeing but not really. Hinata finally gathered the courage to voice her question but after many "Um… why… w-why… I mean… um… I…. why are we…" Naruto decided to finalize said question.

"Why are we here again? Mr. Hatake?"

Kakashi smiled under his mask, he always enjoyed making his students wait and he would've made them wait a little longer if it wasn't for the way Naruto addressed him? _"Mr. Hatake?"_

He shrugged it off again and said bluntly, "Naruto is failing this class. Hinata, would you mind tutoring him?" as he flipped the pages of his lovely 'educational' novel.

"What? Me?" Hinata squeaked out and blushed heavily when Naruto set his gaze on her.

"I… I… I…" figures, the words wouldn't come out when her Adonis' gaze was fixated on her. So in order to be able to speak she turned around and gave her back to Naruto. Yet Naruto misunderstood what she was trying to do since it wasn't the first time someone had turned his back on him. Sakura did it all the time so he already guessed what it meant.

"It's okay Hinata," he said looking away from her, focusing on a spot on the wall, "I get it. You don't have to help me out if you don't' want to."

"What? No! I want to!" Hinata quickly squeaked out turning to face him.

Naruto as excitedly turned to her and said, "Alright let's do this!" only to notice his face was just centimeters away from Hinata's. The girl in question immediately got an even heavier flush on her face, no longer just a simple tinge of pink, and started stuttering random nonsensical things. Naruto seemed to widen his eyes in recognition of something and brought his face even closer to Hinata's.

"Hey… Hinata…" he whispered, his breath ghosting over her lips.

"N-Naruto?"

"I never noticed it before but you… you are…"

Unnoticed by the two teens, Kakashi's eyes had wondered off the pages of his porn and were now focused solely on them. Even his jaw slackened at the scene before him. _"Could it be?"_ the teacher wondered as his free hand desperately searched for his camera phone. Naruto's obliviousness to Hinata's obvious crush was the talk of the faculty when he announced that he elected Hinata as a tutor for Naruto. If Kakashi could somehow find a way to record this iconic NaruHina moment so that he could post it on MySpace, Facebook, Youtube or even Twitter then he would be regarded as a faculty hero.

As Naruto slowly raised his hands to softly caress with his thumbs the skin under Hinata's eyelids, Kakashi had completely lowered his adult novel because he was finding reality more fascinating than fiction.

"_Did Naruto finally realize Hinata likes him? Well, sure he would realize it by now. If any more blood rushes to her face she would surely pass out. Oh God! There're going to kiss, they is going to be a kiss!"_

"I-I'm w-what? Na-Naruto?"

"You are… like totally blind! Whoa you got no pupils"

***SMACk!* **the sound of a two hundred page novel connecting with flesh could clearly be heard around the campus.

"Hey, what was that?" Naruto whined, massaging the erupting pain on his cheek only to see his teacher leaning over the desk to grab the porn novel that was now on the floor. "Hey! What's the big idea, Mr. Hatake, why you'd throw that book at me?"

Kakashi wanted to answer "Because you are completely oblivious to the immense crush she has on you and you dare call _her_ the blind one?" but he didn't, instead he asked the prodding question on his mind. "Mr. Hatake? I'm not saying I don't like it but why are you calling me that all of the sudden?"

"Oh, that," Naruto said with a toothy grin, "If I'm going to be president one day I have to stop talking like a Japanese man, y' know. That's why."

"Oh, I see." Kakashi answered disheartedly, "very well, you two may go now and arrange your study schedules." He said dismissing them but before Naruto walked off the room, Kakashi sing sang, "Yo! You know… 'sensei' is a word accepted in the English lexicon."

His words drifted into the air as Naruto kept himself at the door processing what Kakashi had told him. Then he smiled and answered giddily, "Okay, thanks for the lesson Kakashi-sensei!"

The teacher smiled under his masked. He may not show it by the way he treats his students but he actually cared a big deal about them. So there was no way he was going to let Naruto off without hearing the honorific Kakashi had grown so familiar with. "Kakashi-sensei…" he all too consciously said to no one in particular, "I make a great teacher. Wouldn't you agree, Obito?"

_-After the last bell of day rang-_

"Hey Naruto," Sakura said sweetly, like she did every time she wanted to take advantage of his devotion for her, "Sasuke told me he won't be able to study with us today and so I suddenly remember I won't be either. So sorry, I won't be able to study with you today."

She ran a callous hand through her hair to accentuate its luster before winking at him, "But that's okay with you, right?"

She didn't really have anything other to do but she simply didn't want to study with Naruto of all people if her Sasuke-kun wasn't going to be with her. _**"Like Hell I will!" Inner Sakura vouched.**_ Now all she had to do was wait for Naruto to pout and say something stupid, hit him for it and the continue on with her perfect life.

"That's okay," Naruto replied without giving it much thought, completely unhurt by Sakura bailing out on him yet again, "I told Sasuke I wouldn't be able to study with you guys today anyways."

"W-What?" Sakura asked confused and astonished that Naruto would pass up a chance to be around her, "When did you tell him this?"

"About ten minutes ago." He announced nonchalantly as he decided what books he should bring home with him.

"Oh…" Sakura said a little confused by it. Sasuke had told her he wouldn't be able to study with her three minutes ago. And Sasuke didn't really give a reason of why he couldn't study with her today. Could it be that Sasuke did to her what she was trying to do to Naruto just now? Did Sasuke say he couldn't study with her just because he knew Naruto wouldn't be there?

"…_nah,"_ she quickly dismissed the thought,_ "I'm just over-analyzing the situation. Sasuke probably had something really important to do. Maybe he was on some Uchiha business". _

She praised herself for figuring out Sasuke's motive for bailing out on the study session, after all, there was absolutely no way in hell he would have ditched her like that just because Naruto said he wouldn't be able to study with them.

…right?

Anyways, now she was curious as to why Naruto couldn't study with them, that is, if Naruto wanted to become class president next year wouldn't it be beneficial for him to study with the girl with the highest IQ in class?

"So what's the story, Naruto, why can't you study with us today?" _**"It better not be to hang around that bitch Ino!" **_

Sakura steeled her fist, ready to pound him if that was his answer. She however was not prepared for what he actually answered.

"Oh, right. Me and Hinata are going to go at **it** together."

"Go… at… **it**… together?"

The pinkette's jaw dropped anime-style. It was as if the world around her had suddenly stopped moving. Wait! She glanced around and confirmed her suspicions were true. Every student there had ceased their current activities in favor of eavesdropping upon her conversation.

Part of her wanted to beat everybody up for putting their noses on her business but then again that same part of her felt flattered that people were so interested in her life, after all, she was just _that_ popular.

"Yep!" Naruto grinned widely, "Me and Hinata got matched up!"

"MATCHED UP?!!!!" Thousands of inappropriate images flashed through Sakura's mind. But those thoughts of NaruHina were pushed aside for something more self-praise worthy._ "My lunchbox tactic was that much of a success?" __**"I Rule! Take that Ino-Pig. Now you have no jurisdiction over Naruto. CHA! This fairy tale is for real!"**_

"You mean you and Hinata are…"

"Uhuh" Naruto nodded, "And today I offered we got at it at my place."

"Wait, what?"

"Aha, but she said it'll be better if go at her place instead. I guess I'll get to meet her folks."

"Na… ru.. to…" she said in boiling anger. "CHA!!!!" she grunted as her fist connected to his nose, sending him flying against the lockers. Many eavesdroppers moved away to a safer distance. Then she scooped him up from the floor and proceeded to yell at him. "YOU… YOU LECHER! I EXPECTED BETTER FROM YOU. YOU MEAN YOU ARE ALREADY GOING AT IT WITH HER AND YOU HAVEN'T EVEN MET UP WITH HER PARENTS! I THOUGH YOU WERE A BETTER MAN THAN THIS! YOU DISGUST ME SO MUCH RIGHT NOW! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"Whoa, whoa, please have mercy." The boy pleaded, shielding his face with his arms, "I didn't know I had to meet Hinata's parents to study with her. If you are going to hit someone hit Kakashi-sensei. He made her my tutor. But please let me off. I'll be good. I promise."

"Oh…" She said, making him fall unceremoniously to the floor when she let go of his collar. "I misunderstood, haha, sorry for blowing up on you. So wait, you offered to study at your place?"

"Yeah, but she said no."

"Of course she said no! Asking a girl to be alone with you in your own place without even knowing her that well, what girl with self-respect would agree to this?"

"Eh? What's wrong with that?"

"You seriously don't understand girls, do you? Oh well, I'm off."

And with that said and done, the pinkette dismissed herself and went off with her life, leaving Naruto wondering what she meant by "being inconsiderate of Hinata by inviting her to his place".

On a side note, Naruto lost popularity points by being beaten down by a girl for the umpteenth time that semester.

_-x-x- Later that afternoon -x-x-_

Kiba was static. Not once in his young life has this brunet felt like if he could sprout wings and fly. He was so happy that nothing could bring him down from his high. It's amazing how a simple phone call from the boy he liked …erm… to spend time with could place such a smile to his handsome face.

So what if his sister Hana just happened to overhear Kiba's ringtone for Naruto a.k.a. "Kiss Me Thru the Phone". Don't' ask. Kiba didn't add this ringtone for Naruto because he liked him, it was because… erm… he thought it would be funny.

So anyways, Naruto had called Kiba because the blond didn't know where Hinata lived nor had her cell phone number. But he remembered seeing Kiba hanging with her from time to time so that's why he called. So Kiba, being the playboy that he was, offered to personally take Naruto there because he knew of Naruto's bad sense of direction (read: because Kiba wanted to take a walk with him).

"_Hold up," _the boisterous brunet thought, _"I'm starting to feel like a dog whose master just bought a bone for"_.

"Hinata lives… here?" Naruto gaped in wonder, never in his life has he seen a house so big. House, pfft, this was real state. A S-Class Mansion!

"Kinda big, eh?" Kiba said with a proud smirk. He wasn't proud of the house because Kiba had nothing to do with it itself, but he was happy that it was him who showed Naruto the house that currently had the blond gapping in amazement. In fact, Kiba hadn't stopped smiling ever since Naruto called.

"_Darn it," _Kiba thought as he face-palmed himself, _"I'm not in love with him. I'm just smiling because… because smiles are contagious. Yeah, that's it. Besides, Hinata likes him and I'm not a boyfriend stealer. Not that I'll ever have a boyfriend because I don't like boys. Yeah…"_

"Ne," Naruto responded off heartedly, the view of the Hyuuga Residence still not sinking in. Now Naruto felt bad about suggesting to Hinata that they'd study at his place_. "Could this be what Sakura meant when she said I was being inconsiderate of Hinata?"_

Made sense now that he thought about it, Hinata would've felt really uncomfortable visiting the shit hole Naruto grew accustomed to call home.

"Oi, what's with the sullen expression?" Kiba asked when he noticed the imaginary rain clouds thundering around his pal. When he received no answers from the blond, he stared at the Hyuuga residence in search for clues.

That's when Kiba pieced two and two together, or so he thought. _"That's right, I almost forgot. Neji lives here too so that's why fox-boy over here is having second thoughts. Oh well, I guess I'll have to give him a little push"._

"Hey Hinata!" Kiba yelled over the Hyuuga's Gate intercom, "I brought ya Naruto here so open up!" And with that, Kiba darted off leaving Naruto to fend for himself. Well, not before rushing back, giving an unexpected hug to the blond, and then retreating again.

If Kiba had an inner self it would be making assaults at Kiba's masculinity right now. Kiba himself was berating himself for the fact that he already had "letting go issues" went it came to Naruto after only being friends with him for just two weeks. But there was no way the brunet would put up with a study session where Hinata would stutter something smart, Naruto would make a confused face that made him look cute, and then Hinata would stutter even more, rendering her unable from finishing sentences.

"_Gah! I just linked Naruto to the word 'cute'!"_

**PS: **Kiba didn't sleep that night.

_--x-x-- At the Hyuuga State--x-x--_

At first the un-wealthy blond felt weird and out of place when a butler came to welcome him to the manor, he felt even poorer when two maids came to cater him with drinks and snacks. Naruto was able to calm his nerves a bit when Hinata finally came down the flight of stairs and dismissed her employees for the rest of the day. But what really made Naruto feel relax was when Hinata brought up some rice balls she had prepared herself.

Nothing like homemade food to calm a young man's nerves. Though he did have some reservations about eating something that looked like him. The happy face crafted on said rice balls even had whiskers.

The social studies study session started when both sat across each other at the dinner table, and just like Kiba had predicted there was a lot of stuttering involved due to the confused faces the blond would make every time Hinata tried to teach him something new. It was surprising the amount of patience Naruto possessed every time Hinata stuttered. He would just stare at her with his head slight bent to the right as she tried to finish her sentences.

After an hour of struggling, Naruto was following every instruction nicely but nothing he learned seemed to stick to him after ten minutes had passed and he was starting to feel bummed out by it. Hinata remembered that every time something like this happened with Kiba, Shino would make a comment that questioned Kiba's intelligence in order to motivate the struggling brunet. It usually worked and so she decided she would try it out on Naruto.

"Um… N-Naruto," she started and continued when the object of her affection gave her his full attention, "What would p-people say if a Japanese girl knew more about America than… than… the future president himself?"

The pencil dropped from Naruto's hand when she said this and for a second there Hinata feared she offended him. That's why she was caught off guard when Naruto literally showered her with praises. She had to hide behind her dark blue bangs to hide her immense blush.

Hinata's comment was a double boost for Naruto. Not only did her words ring true but she had also indirectly admitted that she believed in his dream.

The social studies went well for the following hour, and because of the success of it, Naruto even asked her for advice on biology. It had little success at first but then she taught him a trick she uses for memorizing stuff.

The Caps Phrasing System

The system consisted up making up phrases that helped remember "term associations".

For example, if they wanted to remember that the nucleic acids of pyrimidines were cytosine, uracil and thymine then all they had to remember was the phrase, "PYRamids are CUT from stones". Consequently if they wanted to remember that the nucleic acids for purine were adenosine and guanine, they had to use the phrase, "AGs are PURe".

To some the phrasing system was too complicated but it seemed to work wonders with Naruto. By the end of the day, he had made more academic progress with Hinata than he had ever made with Sasuke and Sakura. So that's why when the bluenette announced that today's studies had come to an end, he stood up and hugged her for her time.

But as fate would have it, it was at that precise moment that Neji had decided to walk in from his trip to the beauty parlor with his hair back to its natural color.

The response when noticing the blond troublemaker hugging his cousin was immediate.

"What is this _slob_ doing here?" The fair haired brunet inquired as he shoved the other boy away from the girl, "Did you think you could pull a fast on me, Uzumaki?" he continued as he stood imposingly in front of the other boy.

"Neji? What the hell are you doing here?" Naruto questioned back, already standing in fighting position. Neji rolled his eyes at this and answered, "I believe I was the one who asked you a question first, but if you must know I am here because I live here."

"S-Stop," Hinata stammered, hoping she could dissuade them from going at it again, "N-Naruto-kun is here because K-Kakashi-sensei asked me to tutor him and… that's why he is here."

"I see," Neji nodded understandingly, "So you were forced into this."

"N-No I…"

"No need to answer," Neji interrupted, "I can see it clearly now." As he said this, he eyed with scrutiny the Hyuuga girl, "As usual you were too weak to say no. People are always forcing you to do things you do not want to do but because you are weak you go against your will and bend to that of the others."

"N-No… that's n-not…"

"Do not try to lie to me. It will do you no good." Neji proceeded, taking the stance he takes every time he is about to dish out some more of his _irrefutable _knowledge,"I care not that you're a failure but don't become a liar as well. Hyuuga is the strongest so don't bring anymore of your shame to our name."

Naruto couldn't stand and watch this verbal abuse go on any longer so rising up his fists he launched an attack to the back of Neji's head, "Stop messing with her!" Neji easily twirled and avoided the attack, smirking inwardly as his attacker toppled over.

Neji took this time for glance at Naruto's worksheets. _"Not bad, he is actually starting to get it."_

"A word of advise," the long haired brunet offered courteously at the boy at his feet, "If you are coward enough to attack someone from behind the at the very least do so properly. What's the point of attacking me from behind if you are going to announce it by yelling while you do it."

"P-Please don't fight," Hinata intercepted again, "Naruto was already leaving so please… no more,"

"Fine then," Neji consented, offering the blond a hand, "Let me help you up, after all, you might be a nuisance but you are still human."

"No thanks," Naruto answered begrudgingly but smiled when he turned to the Hyuuga he liked, "Thanks for today Hinata. I bet that thanks to you I'll be able to be class president in no time."

Hinata blushed because of Naruto's acknowledgement, but Neji could only scoff at the claim and blocked the blond's exit. "It seems that fate smiled on you today when it sent you here, Uzumaki. If not then I wouldn't have the opportunity of setting you straight again."

He continued when Naruto gave him a quizzical look. "It is clear you still don't understand your role in life. Fate will never smile fortune on the face of someone who seeks victory by falling on his own sword nor by demanding others to fall on theirs."

"Um… eh?"

"Figures," lamented Neji as he shook his head disapprovingly, "I forgot the Nara isn't here to dummify what I tell you.'

"Don't insult Shikamaru!"

"I was not insulting the Nara, dummy, I was insulting you." Neji corrected before explaining his previous statement. "It meant that even if you were to improve your grades there will still be fifteen other individuals with better grades than yourself. You will never have the grades to be class president. Sorry, but that's reality".

"That does it!" Naruto announced, getting ready to attack Neji again, "You and me, right now, let's go at it."

"You can't always attain power by physical violence," Neji answered as he effortlessly evaded the two punches from his attacker, "Furthermore, I believe if the case were ever to present it self were you would rise to power, you'd be nothing more than a footnote in history. There is no higher calling for you. Accept it and learn to ride the mediocre path that's already been chosen for you, cashier."

"That's it!" Naruto exclaimed as he threw himself full force towards Neji, but only to be stooped by a hand on his shoulder. The tall and imposing figure of the long haired man behind him was enough to restrain the blond.

"Hiashi-sama!" both Neji and Hinata greeted, making a small bow at his presence. "Do not worry about him," Neji then informed, "he was already leaving."

"Later Hinata," was all Naruto offered before leaving the Manor with his stuff. But as fate would have it, Neji had to offer more of his knowledge before letting the younger boy go, "Nice try on your worksheets but if I were you I'd give up now on your dream. You have no chance. There is a reason why you cannot win against me. I have long accepted my fate. You should yours as well."

Naruto left the manor a little down on his spirits, but the text message he received afterwards was enough to ensure him that everything will workout for the better. That and he now knew her number.

_-let's meet up tomorrow at the starbucks. I want to study with you some more-_

_-Hinata Hyuuga-_

**-x-x-x-x- ( End of Chapter Six ) -x-x-x-x-**

**A/N:** I hoped you guys enjoyed the chapter! For the next I'll have a girls beach volleyball competition *inner fanboy dances* and where there is a beach, there is sand. And where there is sand there is… GAARA!


	7. A Meaningful Existence

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _NARUTO_, if I did, Konohamaru's "Sexy Style: Double Knockout Guys Technique" would have featured a Naruto-seme, I mean, there is no way the kid should've have known how older Sasuke would look like.

**FYI:** Hey, guys! Have you noticed that most of the NaruIno here are becoming repetitive? It's either "Naruto has been wronged and now is destroyed" or "We are both blondes, hurray!" Well, at least in the fanfics I've read because if you must know I have stopped reading any NaruIno fanfic were those two have always been in love with each other but never acted on it. If one simple act of kindness was all that was needed for those two to fall in love with each other then they would have become a couple right after Kakuzu was destroyed.

**A/N:** Thanks to your amazing reviews I got into spirit to revive this chapter, for you see, the minute I uploaded the previous chapter I got into a major writing spree and started typing my Gaara chapter from my mind to the computer. I told myself, "Hey, in four days I can already upload this mega awesome chapter!" But on the third day when I already had 13-14 pages saved I came home to find out that my computer had crashed. Not only was my chapter gone but also my upcoming deviations, school written projects that were still to be printed, scholarship acceptance speeches and all the stories I've written but didn't bother uploading. And as you could imagine this was not a good thing to happen to someone who only had three weeks left into the semester. Oh well, what past is past. I had to start everything from zero again.

**WARNING:** Indecent amounts of fan-service! Haha, I'm joking… or am I? Aside from that, beware of Gaara (syn. Violence).

_**-x-x-x-(Love only yourself and fight only for your sake)-x-x-x-**_

**Chapter Seven: "A Meaningful Existence"**

"Relax, Temari" they said. "Take it easy, Tem" they said. But who do they think they were telling her how to react?

It was not relaxing. It was not easy.

Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. Take a deep breath. Let it out. Relax.

She glanced at her younger brother with affection in her eyes. He really was a sight to be seen. His short blood colored hair, wild and untamed, his translucent white skin that showed no evidence of bruises, his smoothly sculpted face and those mesmerizing blue-green eyes held captive by thick dark rims. On his forehead there was a vivid red kanji for the word "love". Still to this day she had no idea how her brother got that kanji there. His bone structure was slim and light-weight but his body still held defined clear-cut muscles that showed he was no pushover.

He kept himself quiet, entrapped in his little world as he built his sandcastle. As always, he used sand from a specific spot, leaving there a crater next to his castle. Playing with the sand had always calmed him. Temari knew this and that's why she had suggested they go to the beach today. Around the sand her brother was so tranquil that no one would suspect how mentally perturbed the redhead really was. His name was Gaara.

Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. Take a deep breath. Let it out. Relax.

She glanced at her other brother with slight annoyance in her eyes. He was a sight to be ignored. He was a seventeen-year-old and he still played with those dolls he calls "puppets". Right now he was calmly putting together a deformed figure with four arms and two legs. She believed he called it "Black Ant". It irritated her because she knew no girl would come near a guy who plays with dolls.

Thankfully she managed to get him out without him wearing that purple face paint nor that full-body black attire of his. Sure, his swimming trunks were still black but now the world could see his brusque and bulky physique. Ripped arms and legs, broad chest and shoulders, and a strong back. His face wasn't what someone would call "sculpted by the gods", particularly his wider nose but like his siblings he still had those same mesmerizing blue-green eyes, even though his eyes were more green than blue. His name was Kankuro.

Right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. Take a deep breath. Let it out. Relax.

She glanced at both her brothers again. They looked calm, so carefree and tranquil. She couldn't take it anymore.

"How the heck can you two just sit there and act like nothing is wrong!" she shouted, gritting her teeth in annoyance, "Am I the only one that sees the problem here?"

Kankuro, shifting his attention to his sister, tried to ease her by pronouncing the accursed word, "Relax," only to end with her glaring at him. "Look, Tem," he tried to reason, "Gaara got into a fight, got expelled for sending some kid to the hospital but he also already got enrolled to another school. Problem solved." He announced proud of his reasoning, "Nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" Temari retorted, sounding offended by Kankuro's reasoning, or lack of, "My baby bother sent someone to the hospital… AGAIN!" she shouted, her urges to strangle someone becoming too apparent. She sighed loudly before opting to confront her younger brother about it, albeit with a sweeter tone to her voice. "Gaara… did you at least had a good reason for beating the brat up like that?"

Kankuro could tell Temari was trying her hardest to contain her fury. A fury she was more likely to take out on Kankuro than Gaara. That's why the brunet hoped with all his might that if justice really did exist in this world, Gaara's excuse would be reasonable.

But when Gaara nonchalantly answered "He disrespected the funk." Kankuro face-palmed himself for forgetting that for a middle child like himself and so many others out there, there was no such thing as justice.

"The funk?" Temari all but exploded, "Are you telling me that the reason you got expelled is because some no-name disrespected _THE FUNK_?"

"And the looked at me the wrong way."Gaara added quickly, as if it would somehow validate his actions.

Some silence ensued until Kankuro figured they were waiting to the middle child to speak, after all, proud as they were, none of them liked monopolizing the conversation. "Relax, Tem," the middle one said, "at least dad managed to get Gaara enrolled to Konoha High."

"I guess," the eldest figured, still somewhat irked by how guilt-free everyone was about this, especially her misunderstood little brother. "Gaara!" she barked, "For father to get you enrolled into another school this late in the semester he had to pull some big strings. At least tell me you showed him some gratitude. You owe him that much."

Gaara pause his work on the sandcastle for a second, upset by what Temari dared assume. So without even sparing her a glance he answered with his usual restrained impassive tone. "I owe that man nothing. I got accepted at Konoha because of my scores. He is no father of mine."

Temari rolled her eyes at that. "You can't keep being this cold to people. Can't you warm up a little?" she asked, having had this conversation with her little brother many times before, "You're never going to get friends like thi-"

"Tem!" Kankuro shouted, trying to prevent her from finishing that sentence. But it was already too late; the forbidden word had already resurfaced.

"_Friends"_

The elder siblings kept themselves at bay, watching with morbid fear as Gaara clenched and unclenched his hands into fists. They knew it was taboo to remind the redhead how severely lacking in the "friend" department he was. The perturbed child hated the hypocrisy that surrounded said word. At anytime Gaara was sure to explode into a tirade of self-hate and rage. That's why Temari and Kankuro were so taken off-guard when their little brother resumed with his sand project. The crater next to his castle only becoming deeper.

"Say…" Temari started, trying to dissolve the tension that accumulated in the air, "how about you let your sister apply you some sun-block?" she said sweetly to Gaara before barking at the other, "Kankuro, pass me the lotion."

"Eh? Weren't you supposed to bring it?"

"Nooo, I drive and you bring the lotion. That's how it works, now where is it?"

"I… um, didn't bring it."

"You know how sensitive Gaara's skin is!" She said between gritted teeth, showing her disappointment in him. She swore she always felt like if her brothers didn't appreciate all her hard work as the oldest sibling. "Forget it," she said dismissively, grabbing the keys to the car, "I'll go buy some."

"Gum," Gaara quickly voiced, "get me gum."

"Sure thing," Temari replied, happy that her baby brother was still talking to her even after her slip. Then she scowled at the other one and waved a finger at him. "Kankuro, don't forget to look after Gaara."

"Yeah yeah," Kankuro agreed unenthusiastically. It was always like this. Temari would act very protective of Gaara but would bark orders at Kankuro. He hated his position in the family. He was not a blonde like she was, not a red head like Gaara, he was just a plain brunet. The unappreciated middle child.

Well, at least now that Temari has gone elsewhere, Kankuro was sure the ladies would start coming his way now. Not that Temari was bad looking but her imposing presence always kept people at a distance. So "eh?" he felt a tight knot in his insides. "Heheh, nature calls. I'll be back in a sec."

This time Gaara did spare a glance to where Temari and Kankuro were previously stationed only to see none of them were there anymore, leaving him alone to his sand. Not that the redhead minded, he liked being alone.

His sandcastle was complete. He was sure that if Temari was here she would say, "It's perfect. How do you do this? You should be an architect or something." But Gaara could care less about the future. He had no plans for it.

Maybe he should take a picture of the castle, just for keeps. It's not like if he had anything better to do. Yet when he turned to search for his camera phone he heard a loud "thump" coming from the location of his craft.

"The fuck?" cursed a man with Speedos on, presumably of the same age as Temari, digging his hands through the remains of the castle to find his phone. "Damn," he cursed again when he noticed he accidentally hung it off. His eyes immediately darted off to meet with the blue-green eyes of Gaara. "Hey brat, I was having an important call."

"Then maybe you should pay attention to where you walk." retorted Gaara through gritted teeth. His morning work, destroyed.

"Shut it, smart mouth". The stranger said, standing upright and easily towering over the relatively shorter redhead. "Well lookie what we have here," the stranger leered sliding his fingers under Gaara's shin to pull him closer. "Who let a cute little hole like you all alone here?" The stranger then ogled the redhead from head to toe, a perverted grin plastered on his face. "Yeah, I think you owe me something."

--(Elsewhere at the beach)--

Ino was still furious about her recent school week and she was letting every bystander know of it as she kept ranting and cursing the name of Tsunade. The Queen Bee was still sore about the outfit restrictions principal Tsunade had imposed. "Pfft… the hypocrite! At least I wear a bra!"

Still, she knew that complaining about it wasn't going to solve her current issue. That's why she opted to go through a morning walk. Maybe some healthy exercise was all she needed to come up with a fail-proof plan to further secure her position as the most popular girl in Konoha High.

Before she knew it she was jogging around the beach and in the middle of her wailing she happened to caught a glimpse of Tenten in a red bikini. "Oh yeah, that junior high student is on lifeguard duty". She recalled. A little farther ahead she saw the oil painter she remembered as Sai. "I think that dark haired pretty boy is in the same year as that hottie, Neji." Then just a few spaces ahead she spotted Kiba arguing about something that Shino was clearly not listening to.

"Okay, so that's four people I know." Ino counted to herself, "It's a shame there aren't more of them. Then I would just go out there and show off my perfect bikini figure".

"Hey…" she said, her voice becoming cheerfully devilish, a clear sign of schemes developing in the inner sanctum of the Yamanaka mind, "it's not like if I couldn't make more people come around."

Oh yeah, she liked the direction her plan was heading. She rubbed her hands together as she cooked up a strategy. She, of course, couldn't make it seem like if she just invited people over so that she could flaunt her stuff. But then again, who said she had to be the one sending the invitations?

She grinned evilly. Her plan would require a little manipulation, but then again, mind manipulation was always one of her favorite pastimes.

She called Shikamaru and Chouji – correction – she called Shikamaru's and Chouji's mothers. She was pretty aware that those two boys were pretty capable of saying "no" to her but if she called their mothers, said mothers would get excited because a pretty girl had called their sons. In other words, the boys wouldn't be able to deny her invitation because if they did their mothers would start questioning their reasoning and more importantly, their sexuality. After all, what guy in their right mind would say "no" to pretty and innocent little Ino? And the heavens knew that the last thing any growing boy wanted was to give their mom a reason to question their sexual preference. Parents could be relentless with the topic when their minds were set on it. Ino also took the opportunity to order them to invite any other classmate they were friends with.

Needless to say, Shikamaru and Chouji resentfully agreed to come.

_That oh so clever banshee!_

--(Back to Gaara)--

When Temari and Kankuro came back from their recent activities they noticed three things were not as before.

**Number One:** Both of them were away for a measurable amount of time, meaning, Gaara was left without surveillance for that same amount of time.

**Number Two:** The sandcastle Gaara had built was no longer there, nor was the crater he had dug. Instead, a single plastic bucket laid there.

**Number Three:** Gaara sat against a palm tree, looking appeased, with a barely noticeable smile on his face, but a smile no less.

"With sand I can do anything," were the only words offered by Gaara.

Temari broke out of her stupor first and handed her little brother the gum he had requested. The redhead accepted the gum and began chewing, expecting the girl to move ahead with whatever she wanted to do next. When she refused to leave his side he looked up and noticed the "I know you did something" look in her eyes.

He started at her with disinterest and answered the unspoken question with a "Now I owe him nothing."

The jaw of both elder siblings dropped, and when Temari's eyes drifted towards the plastic bucket, Kankuro understood that it was up to him to investigate. Slowly he made his way to the bucket; afraid it might somehow come to life and attack him.

Taking one last step forward he lifted said bucket.

"What the heck is this?" Kankuro asked angrily, pointing at the beat-up face of a stranger with his mouth stuffed with what probably were his own Speedos.

"A sand burial." Gaara answered, scowling at Kankuro for asking something that looked so obvious.

"Gaara!" Temari complained, massaging the temples in her head, "You can't keep doing stuff like this! This is why you got expelled!" but then she turned to her other brother and said "But I understand its Kankuro's fault for leaving you alone."

"My fault? You're the one who forgot the sun-block!"

"No, I'm in charge of the car keys, you of the sun-block! Besides, why weren't you watching Gaara? You know better that to leave him without surveillance!"

"Well I'm sorry nature decided to call. I had to shit, not my fault."

"You're a male, dammit, can't you do your business on a palm tree-eh? Gaara? Where are you going?"

Gaara was already eleven steps away from them with his bucket, his camara-phone and his sun-block in hand. Sighing with impassiveness, the redhead answered, "Away, you people are too loud."

This time it was Kankuro who snapped first from his temporary stupor and ran after Gaara, "Wait up, you can't leave!" but when the redhead paid no heed, the brunet grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. "Dammit Gaara, I said stop!" he scowled, "Sometimes you got to listen to your big brother."

Gaara's eyes narrowed at that. "Then it's a shame I've not once thought of you guys as my siblings. Get in my way… and I'll kill you."

"Don't say such cold things." Temari interceded, "Please listen to your sister, okay?"

Gaara started at the pleading looks of both his siblings before replying with less murderous instinct, "I want to be alone."

--(Back to the students of Konoha High)--

Today wasn't anymore interesting than any other day that Tenten had kept watch of the waters. Nobody ever came close to drowning and needing a lifeguard to rescue them and treat them to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. She recalled a blonde girl that always had her hair tied in a ponytail once saying that the reason Tenten was always bored on duty was because no guy ever faked drowning just to get a kiss from her.

The nerve of that blonde girl! Was she suggesting that Tenten wasn't attractive?

Even so, Tenten had made a conscious effort today to look more alluring. Instead of the usual one piece she wore to work she decided to try on a red bikini. She was pleasantly surprised when she noticed how well she managed to pull off that perfect bikini line. Now if only she was a little more stacked in the upper regions, oh well, in time it will come. She was also glad of how comfortable she felt in her bikini, she had an even toned body because of all the sports she played, adding perfectly defined arms, legs and stomach as a bonus. She even braided her usual hair buns.

Now if only the man of her dreams would search for her and say, "Ah there you are, Tenten, I've been looking everywhere for you."

She blushed at that. Was her ability to fantasize becoming stronger or did she actually really hear Neji's voice.

"Tenten, I suggest you look me in the eyes when I speak to you." A commanding voice said.

"Eh?" Tenten snapped out of her daze to notice that Neji in fact was in front of her. She blushed. "N-Neji, what are you doing here?"

"As I said earlier, I've been everywhere looking for you." He answered diligently as always. The girl wanted to squeal right here and then but played it cool instead. It seemed that sporting a bikini actually helped her get her man. So playing it cool she leaned forward and asked, "You've been looking for me, what for?"

"Here," Neji answered by shoving Rock Lee towards her, "You forgot you were suppose to keep watch of Lee today so to erase your little blunder I went to the trouble of delivering him to you personally." He stated matter-o-factly, "But worry not, now the world doesn't have to know of your little act of negligence."

"…" Tenten stared at Neji with narrow eyes. That had to be the most unromantic furthest thing from a love confession he had ever said to her. He couldn't even compliment her bold bikini choice? How could this day possibly get any worse?

"Oh my gosh! Everybody set their eyes to the east!" Rock Lee shouted enthusiastically, impolitely pointing at his targets, "It would seem that Naruto-kun and his friends are having a very youthful get-together between guys our age. And our most un-youthful classmate Sai seems to be joining them. We should all extend our desires of male bonding with them while our flames of youth are still burning with passion!"

With that he held a bone-crushing grip on Neji and Tenten and dragged them towards Naruto's direction, blissfully ignoring the complaints of the two. Tenten shouting, "Male bonding? Let me go I'm a girl!" and Neji saying something along the lines of, "A gathering of idiots is hardly something I would like to partake in,"

Neji in particular did not want to greet the oil painter. Sai was a new student this semester and when those two had first met, Neji was quick to let the other know what his thoughts were on the way Sai dressed. Neji found it offensive how small Sai's shirts were, so small in fact that it would always rise up to expose everything but his chest. But all Sai did was to offer a little creepy smile as a response. That unnerved the Hyuuga to no end. If Neji was going to insult him, he could at least have the decency to look offended.

--(Naruto and Friends)--

"And then SMACK!" Naruto retold, smacking Sasuke's back for some added sound effects, "Kakashi-sensei threw his porn book at my face for wondering if Hinata was blind." Shikamaru and Chouji started to laugh at that. Even Sasuke did after _playfully _smacking Naruto hard on the back as well.

They'd been enjoying Naruto's retelling of everything that had happened to him during the week as they searched for a spot to settle down. The blond clown was about to tell another story when from beside a palm tree a shadowy figure murmured, "It's been quite some time, Naruto."

"Eh?" Naruto stopped moving when he heard his name being called. The one who spoke it was standing tall against a palm tree, his skin was very light from lack of sun exposure, and his brown hair was untamed but kept up with a headband. His eyes hidden behind dark lenses.

"Who are you?" asked the blond.

The addressed stranger took a step forward and answered, "It's me."

"Huh?" the blond wondered, eyeing the other closely 'til he noticed a bug flying by. "Ahhhh," Naruto announced excitingly when he thought he was coming up with a name, but his brain efforts failed and he resumed with an unsure, "umm,".

The tall figure sighed and said, "Even if it's been a while, you should remember your classmates' faces. Why? Because otherwise you will hurt their feelings when they call out to you."

"Um," Naruto pondered, _"That annoying way of talking…" _"AH!" he nodded to himself before smiling at the other, "You must be… Shino!"

"So you finally remembered?" Shino asked, clearly disappointed in the other. So Naruto, feeling like he needed to defend himself from the low standards his friends were probably having of him, added loudly, "It's not my fault! No one's gonna recognize you without your coat hiding your entire body!"

Shino was about to reproach to that when a third party interrupted him. It was Kiba.

"Oi Shino, got us some drinks!" Kiba jeered, his voice sounding a little tipsy, a clear sign that the piña coladas in his hands were not virgin coladas.

"Dog breath!" Naruto waved "hello" flailing his hands like and idiot as he ran his way towards Kiba, unintentionally leaving Shino internally sulking that the blond managed to recognize Kiba at first glance.

"Oi, Fox boy!" Kiba hollered, and as usual, once Naruto was at arms length he wrapped one arm over the shoulders of the blond and smirked. Only to realize the mistake he just did. Sure, he had wrapped an arm around Naruto many times before but this time they were both shirtless. It meant that their skins were brushing against each others', that their body heat were mixing (rising in Kiba's case), and that the little body hair they had was tickling each other.

Kiba's brain was staring to function slowly on account that all of his blood was being pumped toward his other head. And he was also trying to fight off the sudden need he had to lean even closer against Naruto and there he say it, cuddle. He was sure anytime now Naruto would begin to wonder why Kiba's body temperature kept getting hotter and hotter but Kiba couldn't just suddenly pull away from the other. Not only would it raise suspicion but he sorta really kinda liked Naruto's body heat. Meaning, he just had to look for a way to distract everyone from noticing the reactions his body was having towards blond. And with a little scouting, find it he did.

"Oi Naruto," Kiba said, controlling his voice so that it sounded bored, "don't look now but the ice princess is coming our way."

Naruto followed the direction of Kiba's gaze only to see Neji, Lee and Tenten heading their way.

"Hey bushy brows!" Naruto said excitedly and Lee returned the gesture with equal fervor. "Bushy brow, you doing ok?"

Kiba felt himself relaxed then, but made a mental note to not have any further physical contact with Naruto for the rest of the day since apparently the brunet had some sort of fever that started up every time Naruto got too close. _"I don't have a crush on Naruto! I don't have a crush o Naruto! I don't have a crush on Naruto!"_

"I am doing great, Naruto-kun," Lee answered, releasing the iron grip he had on Neji and Tenten, "after my failure at the _**DDR Hall of Fame**_ I feel like I have been revived ten times stronger than before. I am just burning with the flames of our youthful years! So much that I feel like if can do twenty laps around the beach, in fact, I think I will do forty!"

"No no," Tenten shook her head rapidly, trying to dissuade her muscle jock of a friend from attempting any physical labor, "No need to push yourself too much!" But her words fell on deaf ears.

"Time me, Tenten!" Lee shouted in what was to be dubbed his 'declaration of will' cry.

"No, Lee, you shouldn't really…" sighs, "One second, two seconds, three seconds," she repeated to herself dreadfully as she watched her timer go by. Lee was already leaving a trail of sand clouds as he ran. When met with the questioning looks of the other guys she sighed and answered, "Yes, this has happened so many times before that I actually always come prepared with a timer".

"_Damn,"_ Shikamaru thought, _"With friends as troublesome like Neji and Lee, I can't help but to pity the girl"._ He went to share his thought with his best friend only find Chouji crying his eyes out as Rock Lee acted like a drill sergeant and made the Akimichi run laps around the beach with calls like, "C'mon my fat friend, run with all your youth!" "Yosh! You are already sweating this much, my fat friend? That is very un-youthful." and "Do not worry my fat friend, after this is all over I will treat you to a nice and healthy salad but without the dressings".

Neji, seeing that Lee and Tenten were already occupied, deemed that he had set the world straight once more and could now leave with a peace of mind. And would've done so if not for the loud "Charlie's Angels" music that started pounding into his ears and that of every other that resided within a three mile radius.

The guys all stared in awe and shock. Tenten tilted her head in confusion at the display before her. Neji narrowed his eyes dangerously, the veins around his eyes now evident.

The Angels had arrived.

The angel at the right side had defining curves everywhere the eye could meet. From the waist down, her smooth and curvy legs paced elegantly through the unforgiving hot sand. From the waist up to the neck she was covered by a white jacket so there wasn't much to peep at. But the timid little smile set on that wholesome beautiful face went well with the heartwarming pale eyes of the Hyuuga girl. Her long dark-blue hair was flowing elegantly with the soft saltwater breeze, contrasting perfectly with her light eyes and skin. Her name was Hinata.

The angel on the left-side had stomped on the sand with sheer confidence. Every bit of her body was sculpted and defined with smooth muscle fiber. She was sporting a two piece, her top being strapless and with frilly layers, perfect for showing off her sculpted shoulders and her fitted stomach. Her beautiful oval face containing what might be defined as the perfect nose. The brilliant sun enhancing the luster of her waist long pink hair and sparkling emerald eyes. Her name was Sakura.

The angel in the middle, however, showed no halo as she strutted her way through the sand. It was her usual walk and smirk, the one that told you she knew a secret you were dying to find out. Her hips swayed with a sensual rhythm that invited the guys to follow. Her risqué yet tasteful lace bikini tempted all bystanders to glance and appreciate her long legs and her evenly toned body filled with the lithe muscle that suggested she was very flexible. She sensually flipped her long blonde hair so that the breeze could get a hold of her ponytail and fling it to frame her flawless face.

Once the angels arrived to where the Konoha guys were, the "Charlie's Angels" music died down and the angel in the middle slowly grazed her index finger horizontally over her supple bosom as she said, "Hola boys, lucky you to find us here."

Her name was Ino, and now she had expertly managed to get the guys to focus on her breast (which is the real reason she invited Sakura and Hinata to come along. She knew that the shy Hyuuga girl would probably wear a jacket over the swimsuit, and Ino also knew Sakura's bra size. In other words, not only were Sakura and Hinata no competition but by comparison Ino would have the only set of boobs the male eye could concentrate on).

Ino really had to hand it to Shikamaru and Chouji, though. When she told them to invite people over she expected them to invite Naruto and a couple of no-names. But how they managed to have both Neji and Sasuke here was beyond her.

Ino was pleasantly delighted to see that Sasuke was all she dreamt of in his topless glory. Everything about his body was manly yet lithe. Perfect for her hands to roam without encountering any unnecessary bumps. His light skin and oddly shaped dark hair gave him that vampy look she loved on guys.

"Tenten," Neji whispered dangerously low behind gritted teeth and Tenten understood what he was asking of her. Neji was not keen to the idea of Hinata hanging around socialites with a reputation like Ino and Sakura had, attention craving fangirls, meaning that he won't have a peace of mind unless Hinata was being chaperoned. And since Neji couldn't exactly follow Hinata to the ladies' room if the event were to occur he was soliciting Tenten stayed to fulfill that role.

"Hai, hai," Tenten agreed dejectedly, mentally reprimanding herself for selling herself short just to relieve the guy she was crushing on, "just let me see if I can get someone to fill my lifeguard duty for me."

"Very well," Neji conceded, heading straight towards the Uchiha. Well if he had to stay he might as well have some fun. "Well it appears that fate once again had played to my favor," he announced, snatching a volleyball Shikamaru was using as a pillow and throwing it towards the Uchiha who caught it with relative ease. Neji bypassed the girls, not even sparing them a glance, and challenged the vampy looking guy.

"It's been said the Hyuugas and the Uchihas shared a common ancestry, would you care to prove the worth of your name in a simple game of volleyball?"

Sasuke was about to respond when Naruto intervened and asked if he could also play, but when Neji dismissed the blond as a nuisance, a part of Sasuke felt like ripping Neji's face apart. _"No one dissess my dobe but me!"_

"Hn," Sasuke responded feigning complete disinterest in Neji's proposal, "Sorry, but I'm not interested in your pointless clan wars".

If Neji was going to snub Naruto then Sasuke would do the same to Neji.

But before Neji could verbally criticize and disvalue Sasuke's decision, Ino intervened by snatching the ball from Sasuke's grasp before saying, "How about us girls play some beach volley instead," then she winked, "You guys can watch".

--(Back to Temari and Kankuro)--

"Darn, were did Gaara go?" Kankuro wondered, tucking his puppet into the backseat of their family car. "He said he'd be back by now."

"He knew, didn't he?" Temari asked but it was more of a statement, "Gaara knew we had to convince dad to enroll him to another school."

"Yeah, I guess. But we couldn't let Gaara be held back a school year."

"Hey Kankuro," Temari said thoughtfully, "I've been wondering. When dad said he'd be sending Gaara to either Oto or Konoha High, why were you so adamant in Konoha? You know we have better relations with the Oto."

"Well, dunno how to explain this but," he told her about how the other day this kid that was wearing the Konoha symbol had come to the doll house he worked at. He told her about how jovial that kid seemed and about how nice it would be for Gaara to be in an atmosphere like that. And after Temari retorted with a skeptical, "Just because this kid seemed happy doesn't mean that Gaara will be as well." Kankuro explained to her what was really so special about this kid. "You don't get it cuz you weren't there but this kid's face was totally scarred! Six scars total, three in each side of is face and he still acted like the rest of us, Tem, he wasn't at all self-conscious about his scars."

Temari couldn't help but to raise a hand to her mouth at that revelation. _"Holy shit that must be one unfortunate looking kid!"_

--(Back to the Konoha kids)--

The guys were watching, the girls were playing, and the events couldn't have turned any better for Ino. Since Tenten had apparently called in Coach Gai to fill the lifeguard duty for her, the girls could play an even game of volleyball, and after Neji had insisted that Tenten and Hinata played in the same team, Ino ended on the other side of the net with Sakura.

Their scores were even. Sakura and Tenten a.k.a. the Tsunade girls, being the front runners, the first receiving eager praises from Naruto and the second receiving snide praises from Neji.

Sakura was happy she had someone cheering for her but every time Naruto said, "Sakura" without the added "-chan," her body would recoil.

Tenten was happy Neji was paying attention to her but she would have preferred it if Neji said something more constructive than, "Tenten, you must work harder in order to make up for Hinata's lack of talent. Hinata, don't tell me you are trying. Trying is to set yourself for failure. You will not try, you will achieve! Tenten, I know you can do better than that. Show them what you can do."

Rock Lee was torn between cheering for Sakura or Tenten.

Hinata was having a somewhat hard time playing since she lacked some aggressiveness, which would have turned the tide in favor of Sakura and Ino, that is, if only Ino paid at least minimum attention to the game instead of at the guys that were watching. Every move she did was to show off a different angle of her body and sometimes she even did this.

"Oops," Ino said as she accidentally hit the ball so that it will fall between the legs of an utterly bored Uchiha. Then she would make her way towards the ball with a walk of a cheetah about to pounce on her prey. She would sway her hips and then let her hair cascade down to caress the legs of the Uchiha as she bent down to grab the ball. Slowly she would rise up so that Sasuke could get a clear view of what she had to offer and then, she would head back to the volley court, slowly so that he could see the way her lace bikini would slowly rise up and down with the rhythm of her firm ass.

Sasuke, of course, stared with disinterest as she did this. Those kinds of things had happened to him so many times before that he couldn't care less if he wounded the girl's pride by ignoring her. He groaned when he remembered what happened on his way to the beach.

_--x-(brief flashback)-x--_

"_Hello Sasuke," Karin gushed over his name and gave him her 'smothering eyes' that begged to be dominated. Complete with the bottom lip pursed between her teeth. Oh God._

"_Did you just have an orgasm?" Sasuke asked rudely, "'Cause I haven't even done anything yet."_

_Karin just faked an insulted look when it was obvious she was turned on. Sasuke could swear that someday this girl would be a big deal in the porn industry._

"_Let's go," Sasuke said assertively, gesturing Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji to follow him. Karin jumped to his side and clutched his arm. "How easy are you?" the Uchiha asked rudely, as he shrugged her off, and was bewildered when she giggled shrilly as he walked away._

_--x-(end of flashback)-x--_

Unlike Sasuke, Naruto and Kiba were kind enough to whistle at Ino's sexy efforts. After all, Naruto had been taught by Jiraiya that when women made the effort to lure men, it would be impolite if the male didn't offer a courteous whistle to show their appreciation. Kiba had been taught by Tsume and Hana, his mother and sister, that sometimes women with strong personalities did obvious thing to gain the attention of the one they liked and if they did not receive a very responsive feedback, their egos could easily bruise.

"Hehe," Ino giggled, sure, she did not get the response she wanted from the Uchiha but she did get Sakura to glare at her and she even got whistles from Naruto and Kiba. Those two, she took a mental note to shower them with popularity points later on.

As the game progressed, Hinata kept moving slower and slower to which Naruto called, "Hey Hinata! Take off your jacket!"

The silence that followed was deafening. But after Neji glared at Naruto, he explained his reasoning, "Well Hinata is sweating a lot, maybe if the took off her jacket she could breath better."

Hinata blushed at the prospect that Naruto was actually paying attention to her, and Kiba, not being one to pass up an opportunity to tease Hinata around Naruto, seconded that motion with a, "Yeah Hinata, show us that one piece swimsuit of yours!"

"Um… okay," Hinata responded, her pale face becoming pink with embarrassment, "if you think it's for the best… that is…" she said as she shyly undid her zipper and took off her jacket. What was exposed from those confinements made every girl there feel self-aware of their size, and every single bystander stare incredulously at how charitable nature had been with Hinata's stack. Even Sasuke had to bat an eye.

On a side-note, Ino stormed off the volleyball court to grab a towel to cover herself up and decided to sit as far away from Hinata as she could.

Since Ino clearly refused to play anymore, Hinata too decided to take a break so that it wouldn't be two vs one. So while Tenten and Sakura kept going at it for the sake of the sport, Hinata was being showered with the attention of all her fellow classmates, and a very protective Neji backing them off.

Ino was furious. After all that careful planning she did to make sure that tomorrow all the guys talked at school about how hot she looked in a bikini, her plan just had to backfire like that. Now tomorrow all she was going to hear on the halls was "how gifted Hinata was on certain areas".

"_It's not fair!"_ she mentally screamed. How would she be able to maintain a solid lead on the popularity charts if one of her best qualities had to be kept under wraps. "_Wait! Maybe I've been relying too much on physical beauty."_ But it's not like if she could go abusing her manipulative abilities. That can get pretty tiring.

In her wailing she caught sight of the other dark haired pretty boy she'd been ignoring since she arrived. Sure Sai was no Sasuke but he still fit her fetish.

She made her way towards him as he was sitting a little ways away from the rest of the guys. Sneaking up behind him she caught sight of the oil image he was sketching. At first it looked like a black abstract picture, but as she focused on it she managed to tell apart figure from background. The background was the very beach they were standing on and the figure, she managed to make out strong wide feet, firm and outlined legs, a broad chest and shoulders, manly arms and a strong built. The body was clean-cut and chiseled. The body in the picture had an empty space were she guessed the swimming trunks would be. When she got to the face of the man in the picture she noticed the trademark scars of Naruto Uzumaki.

She immediately looked up to see Naruto in the distance only to notice that he did in fact have a chiseled body. She was again very surprised that he didn't have a pudgy belly from all the ramen he eats. But his muscles didn't look that hard so she wondered if Naruto simply had a naturally gorgeous tanned body or if he worked out a little.

Now that she thought about it she didn't take time to peep at the bodies of her other classmates since she was so focused on Sasuke. She already knew how Shikamaru and Chouji looked like, Lee was dark haired but too much of a muscle type, certainly not the definition of a pretty boy. Neji looked like a Greek god with his clean-cut profile and long silky hair but his personality left little to be desired. Shino, she couldn't really keep her eyes on. It was so evident the lack of sun contact on his skin that it blinded her eyes. And Kiba had a body extremely similar to that of Naruto's, albeit a little darker in the skin.

Her musings of the boys in her class were briefly interrupted when Sai voiced, "I wonder what his size is?"

"Eh?" Ino was caught slightly baffled by his question until she saw that Sai's eyes were focused on Naruto. "You mean his shoe size?" she asked.

That's when he gave her that creepy little smile of his and answered, "His penis."

That was all it took for Ino's little infatuation on Sai to die down. She immediately left Sai's side, leaving him wondering if he said anything wrong.

"_His penis?"_ Ino's mind raged, _"What kind of guy would ask such a question? What, was he planning to draw Naruto nake… Oh my gosh he IS planning on drawing Naruto naked!"_ At that realization she wondered if Sai was homosexual but then again it wasn't her problem since with today's statistics there should be at least one gay in every classroom.

That revelation led her to another. Is the statistics were true, shouldn't there be somebody gay in her homeroom? As far as she was certain there was nobody gay there unless that person could still be hiding in the closet. _"That's it!"_

If she could only be able to out that guy then something like this was sure to place her name on the subject and predicate of everybody's sentences. Something this juicy was too good to pass up. But she needed to handle this topic carefully since something this sensitive could easily backfire on her. The guy couldn't be extremely popular nor could he be a "nobody". That's when it occurred to her that all the guys from her year with names that mattered were already gathered here.

There was Shino but frankly she suspected no one would really care what his sexual preference was.

There was Sasuke but he being gay would be counter productive to her goal of bedding him. Not to mention that because of his popularity the others girls would attack her if she even suggested such a thing.

There was Shikamaru and Chouji but she would never do something like that to her childhood friends. The fact that all their parents were best friends added against it.

There was Naruto but he was so obviously in love with Sakura it still sickened her how intense his devotion to her was. No one would believe her if she said Naruto was gay.

And then there was Kiba. He was fairly popular and was obviously a dog person. His triangular tattoos gained him attention, especially since it was a family thing. He was the only boy in a house filled with women and recently he had started to act buddy-buddy around Naruto.

"Hey…" Ino pondered. Ever since she arrived she hasn't seen Kiba pull an arm around Naruto all day long like he usually did at school. He has also been keeping a safe distance from the blond but every time Naruto would get too near, Kiba would find an excuse to get away. And whenever Naruto was talking to somebody else, she would see Kiba pretending to talk to Shino but his eyes would always stray towards the blonde's direction.

"Kiba," she mouthed with pure malice, almost licking her lips at how tasty her developing plan was.

"Hey Shikamaru," Chouji nudged his lazy friend, "you noticed it too, right?" he stopped to munch on more barbecue chips before continuing with his observation, "Ino has been staring at Kiba for a while and she has that grin on her face."

"Eh?" Shikamaru groaned as he woke from his nap only to notice what Chouji was referring to, "I would warn Kiba about it but something tells me Ino will get what she wants no matter what. It's too troublesome to get involved".

--(Back to Gaara)--

The redhead was minding his own business, absorbed in bringing out his demons into the sand. He could faintly make out in the background two girls playing volleyball, and each time it sounded like if they were coming closer. But he chose to ignore it.

"A demon that loves only himself, that is what you named me." He thought aloud, remembering what his late uncle had told him in his last seconds of life. That had been several years ago but the event replayed itself every time he closed his eyes. The reason his mother named him Gaara. A mother he never met and his father made it a point to remind him it was his birth that caused her death.

"It's finished," he commented at the deformed raccoon figure he crafted from the sand. It was five feet tall and pretty wide. The giant crater beside it was enough proof of his efforts. "You are the nightmare that keeps me from sleep. I will call you Shukaku. The demon my mother saw when she named me"

He hadn't thought much about his uncle or his parents in quite sometime. For him it was already a buried history. But the recent events again showed him that his father could care less about his upbringing, and when wondering if a mother would look out for her son's best interest, he remembered that his mother hated him.

That's ancient history now, yet however, this was the first time he had been able to craft Shukaku out from his mind, it'd be a waste if he didn't at least take a picture of it. He had been working on it all afternoon.

As he continued chewing his gum he took out his camera-phone and focused it on Shukaku and clicked 'ok' to get the desired image. When the image showed up pink, he lowered his cell and was astonished to find that his efforts were now a relic of the past. A pink haired girl now sitting on top of what it used to be.

"Tenten," the pink haired girl whined as she grabbed the volley ball and brushed the sand off her body, "you served it too far". Then she noticed the redhead beside her and in a cute tone of voice said, "Sorry about that." And with that she stood up ready to leave.

Gaara kept staring at what once was his finest piece of art until the pink haired girl added, "It was one ugly sandcastle anyways," as an after thought. As if it somehow made it all better.

"You…" Gaara felt his insides boiling, "you fucking bitch!" He shouted as he grabbed her by the arm and threw her to the crater he had dug, immediately kicking the sandy remains of Shukaku toward the crater so he could bury the bitch alive.

"Today your blood will mix with the sand and only then will my thirst be quenched" He yelled.

As he did this he could hear a stampede of people heading his way until one of the bunch forcefully pushed him to the ground.

"What the hell do you think you're doing to Sakura!" shouted the pusher, gritting his teeth in anger.

"Shut up you piece of trash!" Gaara growled, he hated being touched by others, "I… I haven't had enough yet." he then said standing up so he could take a good look at the person who pushed him. His blue-green eyes widen when he saw the scars on the offender's face.

The offender's eyes, now revealed as Naruto's, also widened in recognition of the Sakura attacker. _"He is the one that beat bushy brows at DDR."_ Pointing at him he said "Let Sakura go!"

"Yeah," the rest of the Konoha guys taunted in perfect unison, all looking ready for a fight.

"An interesting gathering of people you got here". Gaara observed, staring at Naruto with disgust, "You must be the type of person who only values his existence by what others think of him."

"_Those eyes…" _Naruto was slightly stricken by the look of disgust in the redhead's eyes, _"I've seen them before."_ Either way, reminiscing could take a backseat. Sakura was more important. If anything bad was to happen to her, Naruto would, he would… he didn't want to think about it. "I said let her go!"

"_Do I see hatred?"_And Gaara pondered the reason behind said hatred. "What does this bitch means to you?"

"She's my friend!" Naruto shouted, "Leave her alone or else… I'll kick your ass!"

At that moment Sakura had recovered from her temporary dizziness at being so forcefully thrown to the ground. She also recovered her eyesight after having sand thrown to her face. When she noticed she was in a hole she did her best to climb out but it was at that same moment Naruto had threatened Gaara, and Gaara all too willingly answered the threat.

When Sakura started climbing out, Gaara stomped on her hand and kicked more sand into her eyes. "What's wrong?" Gaara asked at Naruto's shocked expression, "Weren't you going to kick my ass?"

"Damn you!" Naruto shrieked, flinging himself at Gaara to take him down with him, but Gaara easily use the momentum to flung Naruto out like a catapult into the air and away from him.

"Why you!" Kiba started but Ino quickly stretched her arms and yelled, "This is Naruto's fight!" in a commanding voice. Making all the others halt their attack, "We all know Naruto likes Sakura, let him be the one who protects her. If it gets out of hand, then we go in."

Everyone seemed to examine her but stopped all attempt to assist Naruto, though Sasuke and Kiba looked pretty agitated by not being able to offer any help. Ino herself was shaking but was still glad that even outside school grounds she could still impose her authority as class rep into her classmates.

She then heard two fists connecting, causing her to turn around and notice that both Naruto and the redhead were sporting chapped lips. Apparently they had punched each other in the mouth while she was ranting.

"Pathetic."Gaara growled, "Friends? You make me laugh. You are no different from me. You fight for your sake alone because you love only yourself."

Naruto lowered his fists to stare at Gaara incredulously, "_Those eyes again… eyes with such solitude."_ He then noticed that Gaara was standing between Sakura and himself. He then remembered that Shikamaru had told him that he had to be smarter if he wanted to win fights against Neji. Maybe fighting this redhead could be a good opportunity for him to practice how to outsmart his opponent. He figured he'll have to distract the redhead until he could reach his Sakura by countering the redhead's remark. "You're wrong." Naruto said, "I love Sakura and all my friends. I mean, don't you love yours?"

"_Friends?" _Gaara's mind went haywire at that godforsaken word, "Shut up!" he shouted turning around to spit his gum at the girl who again tried to climb out of her grave, before kicking even more sand towards her. But before he could even begin to kick the second round of sand he was forcefully tackled by Naruto.

"Don't touch her!" Naruto yelled as he pinned the redhead to the ground and fisted his face repetitively, with every fist connecting he screamed out his words, ""I. Told. You. To. Leave. Her. Alone. Damn. You!""

Naruto stopped at that last word, somewhat frighten by his lost of control. He saw that the redhead's face was pretty battered up and he was going to apologize when Gaara took the chance to punch the blonds' jaw so that he would get off.

At Naruto's temporary loss of self, Gaara grabbed him by the hair and forced him to the ground so that their roles could be reversed and now it was Gaara who was pummeling Naruto down while screaming, "Friends? Open. Your. Eyes. Idiot. They. Aren't. Defending. You!"

"Damn you!" Naruto grunted as he grabbed Gaara's arms but Gaara did the same and now they where rolling in the sand trying to pin the other down, kicking each other every step of the way.

Gaara was like a madman, trying to inflict as much damage on the blonde as it was possible but every blow he landed the blond would return with equal power. Both of them had stopped thinking about the reason they were trying to strangle each other and now all that mattered was who would come on top.

"Enough!" And extremely loud voice commanded, pulling Naruto and Gaara off each other with extreme ease.

"S-Super Bushier-Brows-Sensei!" Naruto said, already feeling like if he was about to black-out from head trauma, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to stop this disgraceful exchange of blows," Maito Gai scolded, pulling Naruto closer, "The behavior you showed today should be enough to get you expelled from Konoha!" Maito Guy reprimanded, and Gaara's eyes widen in recognition of the name, "Konoha".

"But you won't get expelled," Maito Gai then said, his face going from furious to proud as he gave offered his blinding white smile and watering eyes combo, "because today you met the requirements needed to behave in such a way. To protect someone who is precious to you".

Gaara growled at that, "Release me you annoying mother hen,", he ordered, shrugging off Gai's hold on him, then turning to whisper something in Naruto's ear as he left. Something that left Naruto wondering if he should start fearing for his life and the lives of his classmates.

--(The following morning)--

"How horrible!" One of the girls said and all others agreed. At homeroom the students had all gathered around Sakura since the teacher was still to arrive, all curious about her current appearance. Sakura slowly told them about yesterday's events and about how this redhead psycho had attacked her. Everyone who wasn't there was quick to offer their sympathies to their vice-president, while the people who were there while it happened only listened to the retellings.

Ino, of course, was by Sakura's side also elaborating on the story and letting the people know how awful she felt about inviting Sakura to the beach that day. Sure, Ino really did feel horrible about it but she wasn't going to let Sakura get all the sympathy points either. After all, the reason Ino even invited everyone there was so that she could have a story to tell.

Sakura was finishing describing how Naruto had rushed to her defense when Sasuke stood abruptly from his desk and swung the room door open to reveal the referred blonde. The crowd gasped at the noticeable bruises in his whiskered face and the purple eyes and chapped lips he was sporting. Naruto met with all those eyes and looked downcast, ashamed of himself.

Sensing the uneasiness, Sasuke placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze while saying, "You did good, dobe." Naruto smiled at the gesture and Sasuke sighed, moving aside so that the blond could see Sakura.

Blue eyes met with green, and Naruto was saddened when he saw the little blisters Sakura had all over, plus her long and beautiful hair was now shoulder length.

Sakura noticed he was staring at her hair and she said, "Don't worry, Ino and mom did the best they could to make it look good. The gum and the sand got stuck pretty badly"

"Sakura-chan," Naruto said, rushing to kneel before her desk and taking out a toad plushie with a royal crown that said "kiss me". He offered it to her and said with a shaky voice, "I'm sorry you got hurt. I'm so sorry."

"Its okay, Naruto," She said grabbing the plushie and giving it a hug, "Thank you for saving me." But her voice also sounded like if she was about to cry.

At that Sakura offered him a sincere and thankful smile that made Naruto blush so heavily he started scratching the back of his head while grinning like an idiot. The crowd was about to "aww" at that NaruSaku moment when teachers Kakashi and Iruka entered the classroom. Kakashi sat at his desk while Iruka cleared his throat to give his students the important news.

"As of today a new student will be joining this class. I know, it is quite late in the semester but his grades showed us great promise. He had an unfortunate accident yesterday but I'm sure you guys will make him feel at home in no time so please give a warm welcome to…"

"Gaara," the redhead said as he entered the room. The killer intent radiating from him was enough to make the students sit up straight. His seriously thick 'guy-liner' made the murderous glint in his eyes all the more evident. The way he walked with his arms crossed sent shivers down everybody's spine. "The name is Gaara."

When Sakura and Naruto flinched at that revelation, the rest of the students pieced two and two together and figured that Gaara was the redhead psycho who would even hit a girl. His face was as battered as Naruto's.

"Now Gaara," said Iruka, offering a smile to his new student, "Will you like to share some words with your fellow classmates?"

Gaara closed his eyes at that and opened them to stare directly into Naruto's. "Those who fight to gain the respect of others are people who live and die by what others think. If you cannot measure your own existence without the prejudice of others then I'd rather see you dead."

Naruto gulped at that, remembering well the words Gaara had spoken the day before as he left the beach.

"I will kill you, mark my words, I will kill you all."

_**--x-x-x-( End of Chapter Seven: "A Meaningful Existence" )-x-x-x--**_

**A/N:** Woot! There you guys have it. Now that I got all the character I plan to use settled in the same school, I can start developing the real drama, and by that I mean be ready for the "Sasuke Arc" that will start as of Chapter Nine. The next chapter however will be dedicated to the pairing that my most consistent reviewers adore. And Yeah, that means that the chapter will revolve around Naruto, Kiba and Ino.

**PS: **Noticed that Naruto called Sakura "Sakura-chan" in the end? Haha, I'm evil I know. Every chapter Naruto seems to end up with a different future pairing.

**PS2: **Gaara has come and unintentionally questioned the reason Naruto wanted to become class president. I love Kishimoto for giving Naruto so many rivals. We have Neji, Gaara and just you wait for Sasuke. Until next time!


	8. Someone to depend on

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _NARUTO_, if I did, Sakura wouldn't be the only kunoichi that had a moment defining battle on Shippuden. And no, I do not count Hinata vs God!Pein as a battle.

**A/N:** Quick update, ne? This chapter is key for the developing drama of this story so be sure not to skip anything. That being said, happy readings!

**WARNING: **You won't need 20/20 vision to see the intended shonen-ai of this chapter so be a little open minded people, it's not like I'm writing yaoi so I want to hear no complaining about it. Aside from that, compared to the last chapter, this one is pretty straightforward.

_**-x-x-(Heh, I don't know what's going on but I'm always up for getting wild)-x-x-**_

**Chapter Eight: "Someone to depend on**"

Something was missing. That key ingredient that would help Jiraiya hit it big time with the book shelves. He had done some _research_ - correction – he has done a LOT of _research_ and he was sure he had written everything there was to write about how responsive the female anatomy could be to certain _touches_. He let out a pervert giggle when he remembered the places he has gone for writing inspiration. Yet for some reason that escaped him, his adult romance novels only managed to sell at a local level.

Maybe the problem wasn't the girls he was writing about. Maybe the one missing that special formula was the male protagonist of the series. But what could it be? Jiraiya knew all there was to know about guys and their relationship to women; after all, he was _very_ experienced in that field. _"Oh yes I am"_ he thought in reaffirmation, a very lecherous grin following tow. So what could his little orange book be missing? Maybe he needed another supporting character that'll help stir some new intrigue plot and new _corporal _positions? But what kind of character should it be?

"Must be the deadline," the old lecher figured, "I can't get any new inspiration because the deadline for my next book is due in two weeks." He has been _researching_ day in and day out through the entire month so far without much luck so far so today he had decided that maybe if he stayed in, inspiration would come find him instead. And that was just what he'd been doing, sitting on his mattress as he waited for it. And he wouldn't move from said mattress until it happened.

But then the door bell decided to ring.

"This won't do," He groaned out when his peace was interrupted. He knew he wouldn't be able to concentrate if someone was visiting. If he didn't answer it he would be all day wondering who it was. But maybe that somebody just dropped a package for them. In that case it wouldn't do well if he was left wondering what the package was. He needed to rid his mind from this new development as soon as possible. _"The Gaki must be up by now,"_ he figured, leaning to his wall to yell at the teen in the other room. Neither the walls nor doors were exactly soundproof after all. "Hey Gaki! Get the door!"

"Get it yourself, I'm still tired!" came the loud reply.

"Gaki!" The adult novelist grumbled, remembering with a sigh that Naruto was at _**that**_ age when youngsters questioned and rebelled against the orders of their more superior and experienced parents/guardians. "Hehe," but one didn't get to raise a kid without knowing what bells and whistles to use to elicit certain reactions from said kid. So with a sinister smile on his face, he let out a perverted chuckle as he announced pretty loudly, "But I'm all naked. Oh well, hopefully our visitor will be that pretty blonde girl that brought you clothing the other day," then he whispered in a teasing tone, "who knows, maybe she's all the _inspiration_ I need".

What happened next would have the perverted parent laughing all day long. By the sounds alone he presumed that Naruto had fallen out of bed, cursed, stood up, tripped over his own feet as he headed to his bedroom door, cursed again, slam his door opened, fell down again because he slipped over an open ramen cup or something of the like, cursed even louder, stood and rammed open Jiraiya's bedroom door only to yell, "You better not leave this room while she's here and your next book better not have a blonde girl with a ponytail hairstyle on the cover you hear me? You sick pervert!" and with that, the teenage boy slammed close Jiraiya's door. The pervert in question would've found the scene more intimidating if Naruto hadn't been wearing his black nightcap with the eyes and teeth on it.

"Pervert!" Naruto mumbled absentmindedly through gritted teeth because of how that old man had even toyed with the idea of ogling Ino like that. She was Naruto's age for crying out loud. Clearly off limits to someone of Jiraiya's age.

"Wait," The teen stopped himself, wondering why he was getting so worked up about Ino. She was a girl that rarely ever crossed his mind. But then he thought, _"why not?"_ True, Ino and him had never been able to relate to one another before but lately the girl had been nothing but nice to him. In these last few weeks she had even invited him to eat with her during lunch and even bought him a purple sweater. Sure, he didn't particularly like the color purple but the fact that the sweater was his size meant that she had taken some thought into account. He wasn't sure if Sakura had ever bought him something. Speaking of Sakura, Ino even told him that if it would make him feel better she would tone down her habit of name-calling Sakura. And so far, for what he had seen, she has. Ino had been real good to him lately so he guessed it was only natural for him to react that way when the pervert even suggested ogling her, because he felt compelled to look out for her too.

"Yeah," he nodded to himself, happy that he figured it out in that short amount of time. He was feeling smarter already.

The doorbell rang again and Naruto laughed to himself. Here he was getting so worked up over Ino when there was no guarantee that it was even her ringing the doorbell.

Before unlocking the door to his apartment, Naruto called over for the visitor to identify himself/herself, but when he received a familiar bark as a reply, he flung the door open and was greeted with the sight of his new buddy, Kiba, and his faithful hound, Akamaru.

Being polite and hospitable had been manners that Jiraiya had always made sure Naruto remembered when treating guests. But said guests would always be girls Jiraiya brought over. Taking into account how unintentionally rude Naruto could be because he tended to speak without thinking things too clearly, and the fact that Kiba was not a girl, Naruto instead of saying 'good morning, please come in' he went straight to the first thing that popped in his head. "What are you guys doing here?"

Kiba would've been put off by the 'warm' welcome if he were the kind of person that even cared about manners, but like he wasn't, he just pointed to himself and answered boisterously, "Me and Akamaru were pumping some steam, stumbled 'round here, and figured we might as well see if you wanted to jog with us." True, Kiba had taken a huge detour from his usual route to 'stumble' around Naruto's pad but the blond didn't need to find out about that. Kiba then looked up and down at Naruto and winked, "Nice pajamas by the way."

"Eh?" Naruto looked at himself and his ramen printed jammies, a huge rush of embarrassment settling in soon after. Not because Kiba had seen him like this but because right now it could've been Ino staring at him. "Tah, let me change!" he cried out panicking, as he ran to his room and stripped down to change into something sportier.

Through the whole ordeal Naruto had forgotten to either invite Kiba and Akamaru in or to close his bedroom door as he changed, and crammed as the apartment was, even from the front door Kiba could capture the complete peep show experience. Kiba had tried to look away but the instant Naruto's fingers graced his green boxers, it became relatively hard for Kiba's slit eyes to stray from that round ass.

Naruto came out wearing a red wife beater with some black sweat shorts and some red and black sneakers. Kiba himself was wearing a black wife beater and some white sweat shorts.

"So I guess this mean you're coming?" Kiba chuckled, inviting himself in, "and here I thought Akamaru would have to resort to his puppy eyes to convince you." That made Naruto smile without knowing it himself. Kiba might have been trying to tease his friend but he in-avertedly admitted that he wasn't leaving until the blond said "yes".

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said as he waved it off, searching through the cabinets 'til he found his holsters. He pulled them out and sat on the floor so that he could wrap one of them around his right thigh. At the questioning looks his two visitors were giving him, he explained that he was using the hoister as a place to store his frog wallet, his apartment keys and his cell phone. Kiba furrowed his brows and commented it looked stupid to which Nauto bitterly retorted "well since I got no pockets on me this is the best I can do!" and with that being said, he pouted like a child and looked away. He remembered Sasuke telling him the same thing some time ago but he was sort of hoping Kiba wouldn't say it too. That's why he was really surprised by what the dog owner did next.

"Then I guess we'll have to look stupid together," Kiba chucked, grabbing hold of the spare hoister on the floor to tie it around his own right thigh. Then he emptied into the hoister the contents Akamaru had on the bag wrapped around his middle. "So, we good to go?"

"Yeah," the other boy replied with mucho gusto as he began strapping his black hitai around his head, that is, 'til he remembered that Ino had told him she preferred seeing him without it most of the time. He was about to take it off when he felt Kiba's hands reach out from behind and tighten the hitai perfectly. Naruto turned around and gave Kiba a questioning stare but the boy in question shrugged it off with a, "it looked like if you were having trouble so I helped out." And like if he had known what Naruto had been worrying about he added, "Plus you look better with it anyways."

"That's what I've been telling everyone," Naruto complained, pumping a fist but it was obvious he was only smiles. "Now c'mon, dog breath," he cheered, "let's see if you can keep up with my stamina."

"Fine, we'll worry about your stamina," Kiba countered playfully while patting his dog's head, "but let's see if you can keep up with our speed, right Akamaru?" he taunted and Akamaru barked in joint approval, making the guys laugh comfortably by the amiable companionship they were sharing.

Said laughter was getting in the way of the inspiration of a certain adult novelist, so having enough of it, he popped his head out of his slightly opened door and asked what was all the ruckus about. Naruto answered, "I'm going out for a walk," with an energetic smile clearly visible on his face. Then a brunet just about Naruto's height lazily wrapped an arm around the blond's neck and with a confident smile assured, "Don't worry, old man, I'll bring Naruto back before dinner." And with that, Naruto waved goodbye and left with the brunet and a giant dog in tow.

Jiraiya's brain started to function again when he heard the 'click' that indicated the front door being closed.

He had never seen that brunet with the red triangular tattoos on his face before. In fact, he didn't know Naruto had any friends other than that Uchiha brat and that Haruno girl the blond constantly talked about. But this brunet with the dog, "Who are they?"

Yet what alarmed him the most was how the kid with the tats had so familiarly wrapped an arm around the gaki and how okay said gaki seemed about it. Almost as if the gaki was expecting it to happen.

Then the wheels in Jiraiya's brain started to spin.

"That's it!" he yelled out enthusiastically, grabbing hold of his pencil and notebook, "That's what my story has been missing!" and with that in mind, he locked himself back to his room so he could use his sudden burst of inspiration into giving birth to a new book.

-x-x-(Back to Naruto, Kiba and Akamaru)-x-x-

They had been jogging for more than an hour, so after coming to a brief stop to refuel with some sport drinks Naruto asked, "So where we heading?" squinting his eyes like a fox as he walked with his hands folded behind his head, "getting your monthly shots?"

"Haha," Kiba fake laughed at the other's hinting that Kiba needed to see the vet, "You're a real glutton for punishment aren't you?" the brunet then leaned down in the starting position the track runners always took and motioned Naruto to do the same beside him, "Akamaru is the one that's going to lead us, see?" he said gesturing towards his dog who looked ready to run at any time, "All we have to do follow him and make sure we don't lose sight of him."

"Gotcha! Like follow the leader!" Naruto nodded, feeling childishly nostalgic about playing this sort of game. Even though he never really got much chance to play these types of games when he was younger, because of home issues he supposed. There wasn't really anyone willing to take him in after his parents had died. That is, until Iruka came around and housed him for a while 'til Jiraiya finally appeared from wherever he had been hiding and claimed the legal rights to be Naruto's guardian. But that was a time of loneliness the Uzumaki didn't want to remember.

Because that loneliness now reminded him of Gaara's eyes

"Psst, Fox boy," Kiba whispered, waving his hand in front of Naruto until the fogged blue eyes of the blond regained their focus on the real world, "Oi, Naruto, ready?"

"S-Sure thing," Naruto nodded, focusing back on the dog before him.

"Good, now don't forget. We are not allowed to get ahead of Akamaru," Kiba said, repeating the rule he was sure Naruto didn't hear on account of his daydreaming. "Akamaru… Go!"

The race began and Akamaru and Kiba leapt up before Naruto even had a chance to blink.

"No fair!" the blond shouted as he tried to pick up his pace. Kiba slowed down a bit and grabbed the other boy by the wrist to pull him forward faster until they were able to catch up with the dog. Akamaru kept leaping off between narrow corners, kept jumping into every alley he found, and kept running carefree through streets, sidewalks and lawns. The two guys kept following in tow, trying to be careful not to stumble upon anybody.

Kiba did accidentally stepped on the feet of a guy or two, and Naruto kept accidentally knocking down a variety of stuff from umbrellas to empty trash cans, muttering a quick apology every time. Naruto would've probably had an easier time with his footing if Akamaru didn't stop so abruptly, slowing down only to speed up again without a moment notice. The blond felt like he would tumble down every time he almost got ahead of Akamaru by mistake. The rules were not to get ahead, after all.

"Psst, Naruto!" Kiba said between fast intakes of air, "Akamaru slows down every time he is under some shades and speeds off every time the sun hits him so that he could find the next set of shades. Follow that routine and you should do fine"

"Ohhh," Naruto acknowledged, a fierce and confident determination working its way into a cocky grin. "Thanks for the tip."

They kept running after Akamaru with fewer incidents this time around, enjoying themselves as little kids would've. This was the type of thing Kiba always wished Shino and Hinata did with him and Akamaru but they always seemed to refuse. He could tell Akamaru was happy he had two people tailing him instead of just one. It made things more challenging and worthwhile. The dog owner was happy Naruto went along with it. Kiba was also happy that the other boy seemed to be enjoying himself. Hinata had told him that Naruto had been spacing out a lot in their group studies and Kiba figured it must've been because of Gaara. Even today Naruto's face still had a slowly fading bruise under his left eye, and it angered Kiba that he didn't do anything to help Naruto during that fight. Because of the events he has seen how Naruto's fake smile had resurfaced every time somebody asked the blond if he was okay.

Kiba's daydream came to a quick halt when Akamaru started barking angrily at a couple of troublemakers he recognized from school. He saw Naruto yelling furiously at Dosu, Kin and Zaku to stay away as Akamaru proceeded to scare them away. _"Whoa,"_ Kiba said to himself, he must've spaced out pretty badly to miss the whole incident.

"You guys, okay?" Naruto asked, leaning down to smile at three middle school students Kiba recognized as Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon. Those three used to follow Naruto everywhere when he was in middle school.

"We're okay, boss!" Konohamaru announced, banging his chest once like an ape, "I held them down because I knew you would come to help."

"They tried to steal our money! I was scared" Moegi complained, before batting her eyelashes at the blond boy before her, "But I'm okay now that you're here."

"You looked like a street fighter," Udon pitched in, looking like if he was ready to sneeze at anytime. And he did.

"Hehe, that's good to know," Naruto smiled reassuringly, "now go on ahead and stick together. If you get into trouble again I'll be sure to rescue you guys again."

"Sure thing, boss!" the three middle schoolers said, saluting like soldiers before scattering around like rodents. Kiba had to quirk an eyebrow at the sight. The dog owner was sure he didn't space out for too long so if a fight actually happened where Naruto had to defend the three little brats then Kiba would've seen it. But all he saw was Akamaru scaring away the bullies, so in other words, Akamaru was the hero here. Still, Kiba wasn't about to rain of Naruto's hero parade.

"Say, Kiba," Naruto said, looking deflated, "mind if we eat first, I'm starving."

The boy being questioned hadn't really given food much thought, probably because his mind was being occupied with images of a foxy blond with whisker-like scars on his cheeks, but at the mention of food, his stomach decided to remind him how hungry he was, hence Kiba complied. Problem was the brunet wasn't exactly sure where his dog had led them to. But apparently he didn't have to because Naruto was already dragging him by the arm, saying something about Ichiraku being close by.

Was Kiba surprised they ended up in a Ramen Hut? Not really. Everybody at school knew that the somewhat exuberant prankster of Konoha had an addiction to the noodles soup. Not that Kiba minded, the Ramen Hut was an outdoor establishment, meaning that Akamaru could sit with them. Sure, there was a couple beside them that kept giggling over nothing and couldn't keep their hands off each other but Kiba learned to tune them out in favor of the blue-eyed fox sitting across him.. As they ate, Kiba kept feeding bits and pieces of his food to Akamaru, and Naruto kept staring with childlike fascination every time Akamaru licked Kiba's hand clean.

"Hey…" the ramen-lover said, rubbing a finger under his nose, "hey Kiba!"

"What?" the dog-lover answered, using the napkins to clean his hands.

"Is it ok if I feed Akamaru?"

"I guess it couldn't hurt." Kiba answered when he was met with an eager looking Naruto, his blue eyes going from Kiba to Akamaru and then back as he waited for an answer. "What are you going to feed him?"

"Huh?" The blond let out, a little puzzled since he hadn't thought that far ahead. He glanced over the meals in his table, looking for something Akamaru would like. "These onions or something. Why? Is that weird?"

"No onions! Dogs and onions don't mix!"

"What? Really?"

"There's a lot of human food that dogs ain't supposed to have…," Kiba lectured, he crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he replayed in his mind the things that dogs couldn't eat, "certain spices are no good, and don't get me started on chocolate."

"Wow." Naruto let out, his eyes widening in amazement, "The one thing you're good at is dog trivia."

"The _**one**_ thing!?" Kiba inquired, looking slightly offended before retorting, "And it's not trivia!" but the blond wasn't paying attention to him anymore, his curious eyes set on the dog.

"Here you go, Akamaru!" Naruto said, offering the hound a piece of meat. Akamaru accepted it without giving it a second thought and later resumed licking the blonde's hands in search for traces of leftover meat. Naruto began chuckling because the pup's tongue felt like if it was wiping his hand clean, plus it tickled a little. The blond then sniffed his hand and was surprised when it didn't smell bad, and so he took another piece of meat for Akamaru to devour.

Akamaru seemed pleased, so in fact, that he stayed beside Naruto and gave the blond his big puppy eyes, conveying the message that he wanted more. Naruto conceded and even began scratching the dog behind the ears. Before Kiba knew it, he was already melting at the sight before him. Anyone who'd be paying attention would easily be able to catch the love-struck smile on the brunet's face. _"Love?"_ that little word made Kiba snap out of his daze. Fast. He quickly excused himself from the table, saying he had to visit the restrooms but not before telling Akamaru to keep watch of Naruto.

"Arf!" the dog complied, climbing his fore legs into Naruto's lap, encouraging with soft groans the blond to keep scratching him behind the ears. Minutes later, Naruto already found himself missing Kiba's presence.

"Hey, Akamaru," Naruto whispered, enjoying the sound the dog was making, "Today's been really fun so far, you think Kiba would mind if I told him I'll like to do this again, sometime?"

Akamaru felt the need to roll his eyes at that. Of course his owner wouldn't mind, but the again, Naruto hadn't been there to see how Kiba practically dragged Akamaru off route just so they could visit Naruto. Akamaru maybe just a dog but he could tell his owner was really happy that Naruto and Akamaru got along with each other. Plus it would be a win-win for the dog too, not only would his owner be happy but Akamaru wasn't complaining about the fact that Naruto kept feeding him while Kiba was away.

Akamaru could surely get used to that.

"Oh stop it!" said the girl from the couple that sat beside Naruto. The lovers began another giggling feat and the blond found himself staring blankly at them. "Hey," his voice sounded as he noticed something that caught his attention. The male beside him was wearing a similar red sweater to the one Ino had given him, but apparently had forgotten to take off the price tag. Naruto kept staring at the article of clothing until he was convinced that the red sweater was exactly the same Ino had bought him, only with a different color. So letting curiously get the best of him, he read the price tag.

He felt his eye bulging out of their sockets.

"_Damn,"_ that was one really expensive sweater Ino had gotten for him. Naruto was sure he couldn't afford buying clothes _that_ pricey. _"Ino bought this for me?"_ he wondered, staring at the price tag again to see if his mind was playing tricks on him. He still couldn't believe it. _"Why would Ino buy something this expensive for me?"_ Now he felt like if he had underappreciated her gift. And it wasn't even his birthday. It was awfully nice of her to do that for him. Nicer than anything Sakura had ever given him, which could pretty much be summed up in all the awful tasting treats Sasuke had rejected from her.

"Ino…," he found himself repeating her name like a mantra.

-x-x-(Meanwhile at the boy's room)-x-x-

He was happy, he was scared, and he was very confused. On one hand, he was happy that the man meat of a friend he had outside was getting along perfectly with Akamaru, meaning that his faithful dog wouldn't be an issue if Kiba decided to pursue a relationship with Naruto. On the other hand, it freaked Kiba out that he was even considering starting a relationship with Naruto. Sure, Kiba already suspected that for some reason he liked being around the boy. And he was sure it was because he wanted Naruto and him to be buddies. But being buddies was the same thing Kiba wanted from Shino but his body didn't react the same way with the bug-catcher that it did with Konoha's troublemaker.

Every time Shino spoke, Kiba would just be waiting for his friend to finish his monologue so that Kiba could ignore it and make him do whatever he thought would be more fun instead. When Naruto spoke, Kiba would find himself staring at his lips, and then Kiba would feel a weird warm sensation on his abdomen every time the other would smile.

That's why Kiba had decided invite the man that made him feel warm inside on a power walk today. Well, at least that was the official story he went with. The unofficial but real story was that he actually invited the other to a date so that Kiba could figure out his feelings better. He was expecting them to get into some sort of stupid argument, and by the end of the day be brawling over nothing. Then he would be sure he just wanted Naruto as a friend. But so far everything was pointing towards wanting something much deeper than friendship.

He closed his eyes and tried to imagine himself with Akamaru and Naruto sitting beside each other on the lawn doing nothing, he tried imagining himself at the cafeteria table he always sat on at school, with Naruto laughing beside him as they tried to feed each other, he also tried picturing himself holding hands with the other as they ran after Akamaru. He tried visualizing them wrestling with each other until they end up in some explicit position that would eventually lead to a heated make out session, and finally he tried imagining the two embracing each other as they slept soundlessly in each other's arms. The scary thing was that Kiba could see himself doing that. He tried imagining himself with any other guy but some images wouldn't come up, others felt awkward and the rest of the guys he would imagine himself with ended up morphing into Naruto one way or another.

There as no denying it now, he was into Naruto but apparently he didn't feel anything remotely close toward other guys. The second Kiba suspected that he might be gay, he invited Shino to the beach to see if seeing his friend with nothing but his swimming trunks on would elicit some sort of reaction within him. Kiba just ended up relieved because compared to Shino, he looked better without his shirt. But then somehow the rest of the guys from Konoha started showing up and again, the most Kiba did was visually compare his body with the others.

But then Naruto came around and Kiba had to spend the rest of the day willing his body to cool down around the blond. So yeah, he knew his body was attracted to Naruto's, but today confirmed that his attraction to the other wasn't only physical. So that led him to his current problem. _"What the fuck do I do know?" _he wondered, pacing in circles, _"But Naruto is so obviously into girls! If he didn't, he wouldn't be tailing after Sakura all the time."_

Realization struck him hard.

"What am I even doing?" he asked himself out in defeat. He already knew the answer to his problem. Naruto liked Sakura and there was no other way around it. No use getting upset over something that can't be changed. He'll just have to take it like a man and hope that with time, whatever strong emotion he had toward the blond would dissipate. "I guess I should just end this pointless date already". And with that in mind he went to meet up with his dog and his platonic crush.

"Oi, Naruto!" he said when the other was just ten feet away. Naruto shook his head as if he was trying to get rid of some thoughts that were plaguing him before turning to smile at his friend. Kiba was going to suggest they call it a day but when Naruto delivered that smile of his, Kiba felt his heart wrench. It was the strictly superficial grin of his that said everything would be okay even though half of the time he didn't believe it himself. The fake smile.

Kiba then remembered that sorting out his own feelings wasn't the only reason he had invited Naruto out. The other reason was to make the blond enjoy himself so that he would forget about whatever he had been worrying over.

"Oi fox boy, how do you feel about basketball?"

-x-x-(Some time later)-x-x-

The basket ball game almost ended in a tie. For the most part, thanks to Kiba's speed, the brunet had royally owned Naruto on the court. But by the middle of the game, the speedy teen started exhausting himself and that's when Naruto's high stamina turned the tide in favor of the blond. In no time the teen with the energy that outmatched that of the energizer bunny had matched his scores to that of his rival on the court. The game ended 19 to 21, the winner being Naruto.

Now both teens had flopped down unceremoniously on the lawn of the town's public park. Both with their clothes sticking like a second skin to their bodies, drenched in sweat. Their bodies felt limp, unable to even lift a finger as they stared at the sky in silence, hoping their rapid breathing would return to its normal pace some time soon. The sky was already darkening so they should be heading to their homes very soon.

"You know," Kiba wheezed out, trying to make conversation with the other, "calling me dog breath isn't really an insult."

"Really?" Naruto replied, turning his head sluggishly so he could see his friend, "how so?"

"Because dog's mouths are actually cleaner than humans'" Kiba answered with a know-it-all smirk on his face, "it's been scientifically proven."

"Wow, you really are good with dog trivia." Naruto commented as he sat up straight, staring at his friend in awe before developing a confident smirk of his own, "Well in that case, calling me fox boy isn't offensive either. Because when someone is a fox is because they are either sly or hot."

"Hm," Kiba offered in reply, sitting up straight as well but turning his face away from Naruto's, _"Might as well say it,"_ "then by default I guess that means I think you're hot." He commented expecting the other to freak out. When Naruto didn't, he slowly turned around to Naruto, but before he even had a chance to read those blue eyes, he saw a bat being swung toward his friend, but yet again, before he had a chance to react, he blacked out.

-x-x-(Some short time later)-x-x-

"Arf! Arf!" Akamaru kept barking into his owner's ears, hoping to wake him up. When Kiba started to stir, the dog leapt towards the other boy and started licking his face.

"What… what happened?" the teen in black and white groaned, his head feeling like if he just had a concussion.

"Don't know…" the teen in red and black groaned back, trying to stand but failing miserably. "I'm all dizzy and my head hurts!"

"Fuck," cursed Kiba, feeling a painful jolt run through his neck when he tried to look at his friend, "what time is it?"

To answer the question, Naruto inserted his digits inside his hoister, "Let me check my cell for the ti--, Gama-chan is gone!"

"Gama-chan?" Kiba asked, staring quizzically at his friend.

"My wallet!"

"Huh…?" he let out as he too checked his hoister, "Hey, my wallet is gone too!"

"Damn it!" Naruto groaned loudly, feeling like if his throbbing head was about to explode from the pain, "Somebody knocked us out, and robbed us!"

"Arf! Arf!" the dog alerted, sinking his teeth into Kiba's sneakers in an attempt the drag the boy.

"Really, Akamaru?" he said, nodding in understanding. He noticed that the sky wasn't completely darkened yet so it was safe to assume he was unconscious for a short period of time. "Oi Naruto, Akamaru says the thieves aren't too far. Let's trail them!"

"How can you tell?" the blond asked, surprised by the revelation.

"Cause they can't hide from Akamaru and me. Want to know why? (sniff) We can smell them."

"No that! I meant how can you tell what Akamaru is saying?"

"That? Well, uh, I wouldn't be a good owner if I didn't understand him, now would I?" Kiba explained with the best logic he could use. Naruto nodded in comprehension before stretching a hand to Kiba. A hand the brunet wasted to time to take, and with combine efforts, the boys helped each other up to their feet. Turning to his dog, he said "Seek them!"

Before they knew it, they were running after Akamaru who after a couple of minutes stopped by a bench with somebody resting on it.

"It's Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled in recognition, shaking the sleeping teen by the shoulders, "Hey Shikamaru, wake up!"

"Ehh…" came the drowsy reply, and after some yawning, the Nara open his eyes and lazily stared at the boy who hadn't stopped shaking him by the shoulders, "oh, it's you. Why are you waking me up? I was having a nice dream."

"You mean you weren't knocked down? Nobody stole your wallet?"

"Why would anyone steal my… I can't find it." Shikamaru was sure he had his wallet with him before he started watching clouds pass by. He had fallen into peaceful sleep because of the clouds. Sometimes he wished he was a cloud, just floating aimlessly in the sky with nothing else to do. But he wasn't a cloud. He was a teenager with a mother who nagged him like a demon, and apparently by what Naruto was saying, he was also a teen who had been robbed while he napped.

"_Stinkin' thieves! Who where they trying to imitate? The boogeyman?"_

Shikamaru's thoughts were quickly interrupted when Akamaru dashed off again, with Kiba and Naruto following in tow. Shikamaru really wasn't feeling like standing up and much less running after some dog, but after playing 200 different scenarios over his mind, he sighed and followed the dog because it would be too troublesome if he returned home with empty pockets. His mom wouldn't let him hear the end of it.

After a couple of more minutes running, Akamaru had led them to an alley were the electric light were flickering on and off. It was already becoming too dark to see that far ahead. Then the dog came to an abrupt stop and even started shaking. When Kiba leaned down to ask his dog if something was wrong, he just shivered and even cowered behind his owner. And before any of the guys could ask any question they heard a pain filled groan coming from the alley. Before they knew it a girl had fallen unconscious in front of them. It was Kin Tsuchi.

Soon after, the bodies of Zaku Abumi and Dosu Kinuta piled up on top of Kin, all looking unconscious. Three baseballs bats fell beside them and the silenced followed. Kiba, Naruto and Shikamaru stood grounded, unable to move at the sudden sensation of fear that fell upon them. "_What the hell happen to Dosu, Zaku and Kin?"_

Their unasked question was answered by the quiet steps of another individual who emerged from the dark alley, walking calmly ahead until he reached Dosu's body. It was Gaara but this time Naruto couldn't feel that intense killer vibe that always seemed to accompany the boy with the blood colored hair. That vibe felt more subdued this time.

"What did you do to them?" Shikamaru asked but Gaara effortlessly ignored his existence, showing no signs of even hearing the question. Gaara needed to answer to no one, but Naruto wasn't having any of it. So closing his blue eyes he yelled, "Just what the hell did you do to them?!"

Blue-green eyes strayed off to the boy with scars on his face, an existence he did recognize. Yet with a voice that betrayed no emotion he answered, "They didn't suffer because I knocked them out so quickly they didn't have time to experience it." as he bent down to Dosu's body and began to inspect it.

Naruto stared once again at Kin. Iruka-sensei had told him millions of time that a boy should never raise his hand against a girl and it was the second time Naruto had seen a girl injured by the redhead and it made him sp angry he shouted, "What did she ever do to you?"

"I acted out in self-defense," the redhead answered, having to qualms about hitting a girl, "They should've known this would happen when they tried to steal from me."

That comment triggered Shikamaru's eyes to explore the items that were dropped by the unconscious trio when they crash-landed on the ground. "It's our wallets." Naruto and Kiba also recognized their wallets but found they were unable to move their feet while Gaara was there. The redhead reached out for his own wallet and pocketed it. Naruto still couldn't believe what he was witnessing and he also didn't like the way Gaara did things without any remorse for his actions. The blond felt like if it was up to him to say or do something but in Gaara's presence the best he could come up with was a, "But…"

As Gaara stood up to his full height, Naruto took a step back. It didn't go unnoticed by the redhead. "Don't look so surprised," he said, rubbing a slowly fading bruise he had under his eye, in the same place Naruto had his. His blue-green eyes flickering with some faint emotion before turning away to leave as calmly as he had walked in.

"But… but" the blond stammered again. How can he not be surprised? Gaara hurt people and didn't seem affected by it. Naruto couldn't comprehend it. "I don't understand you!"

"I find _**tha**_t hard to believe," Gaara whispered from the distance but his voice was still audible for Naruto. The redhead closed his eyes as he touched his fading bruise again, "Because just like me you too are a demon. Naruto Uzumaki"

Kiba was the first to get off the weird funk they were all in when the redhead was no longer visible, "Geesh, that guy is a freak." He muttered into Naruto's ear, causing the other's breath to hitch at how close Kiba's voice sounded.

"Um, guys?" Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow when he saw Naruto still glaring at the direction Gaara had gone to, with Kiba standing behind Naruto, his arms wrapped protectively around the blond. The two took notice of their position and jumped away from each other, Kiba wondering if he had been shielding Naruto with his arm the entire time Gaara was there.

"Look," Shikamaru started with his usual 'I rather go to sleep' tone of voice, "I don't know what's going on between the two of you but solve it on your way home. I'll stay here and call the cops."

"Why the cops?" Kiba asked.

The Nara shook his head and pointed at the items on the ground, "There are at least eight wallets here. We need to report it to the police so that they can return them to their rightful owners."

"But why do we have to leave while you get to stay?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru sighed as he picked up the wallets he remembered as Naruto's and Kiba's and handed it over to them as he answered, "because if the three of us are here the police will suspect it was us who knocked these three out."

"But Gaara did it all by himself!" Naruto retorted, "Shouldn't we report him too?"

"He acted out in self defense, Naruto," the Nara reasoned, yawning mid way, "I get that you want to get Gaara in trouble for what he did to Sakura but I think in this case it's better if we let him go." He then massaged the tensed muscles between his neck and shoulders before continuing, "Besides, I doubt any one of us wants to handle Gaara."

"It's not just because of Sakura," Naruto whispered hoarsely. It was not that he wanted to get Gaara into trouble but there was something about him that made Naruto scared of him. All week the blond hadn't stopped replaying the look of loneliness in Gaara's eyes before the redhead had gone ballistic on the beach. A look of loneliness and hatred Naruto was sure he had himself before Iruka-sensei had walked into his life and saved him from it.

"Oi, Naruto," Kiba said, pulling him by the arm, "let's go."

"Take care!" Naruto mouthed to Shikamaru before disappearing off with Kiba and Akamaru.

"What a drag," the Nara sighed, picking up his own wallet, "today just isn't my day."

-x-x-(Back to Naruto, Kiba and Akamaru)-x-x-

They had been running for at least thirty minutes until they were fairly sure they were close to Naruto's home. Kiba felt like it would be weird if he actually walked Naruto all the way up the stairs to his apartment so he stopped himself once they reached the vicinity and said, "Oi, fox boy, I guess this is where we go our separate ways."

"Oh… okay," Naruto said sighing loudly, stretching out is hand so he could pat Akamaru again, "I guess I'll see you guys at school."

"Yeah," Kiba responded, yet they still stood there not moving an inch, as if waiting for the other to say something else. They stayed like that for a good amount of time until Akamaru decided to break the silence by barking and pushing Kiba's legs towards the other boy. "Oi, Akamaru, what's the idea?"

"Here," Naruto smiled, stretching his hands towards Kiba, "I'm not really good at understanding dogs but I think Akamaru wants us to say goodbye." Akamaru barked in consent. Kiba smiled and shook Naruto's hand. The blond felt his hand warm in Kiba's, and was about to pull back when the other suddenly gripped it tighter and brought it to his chest. Naruto gave Kiba a questioning stare but his eyes couldn't meet Kiba's as the brunet had already closed his. Naruto eyes widened momentarily when Kiba pressed his forehead against his. Naruto would've on instinct pulled away from the brunet but he had already accepted that Kiba was more of a hands-on friend than a hands-off.

"Um… Naruto," the brunet started, breathing in to gain some confidence, "About today… mind if we do this again sometime?"

"Do I?" Naruto responded eagerly, not at all alarmed that his face was just centimeters way from Kiba's, "I already told Akamaru I wanted to do this again!"

"Then it's a done deal," Kiba assured, smirking with a sense of accomplishment, "later fox boy!"

"Later dog breath," Naruto waved adieu, the smile on his face refusing to fade. Today had been a great day. The fact that Kiba had come to his door to invite him somewhere was something that neither Sasuke nor Sakura had done for him before. The fact that Kiba wanted to go at it again was mind blowing. Whenever Naruto enjoyed doing something with Sasuke, he would have a hard time making the Uchiha admit that he too was enjoying himself. The closest thing Sasuke had come to admitting he enjoyed spending time with Naruto was saying, "I'm still here, aren't I?" But here was Kiba admitting that he did enjoy it with both words and actions. _"Is this what Jiraiya meant when he told me to find friends with whom to share a reciprocal friendship with?"_

Naruto shook the thought away and climbed the flight of stairs back to his apartment door, but when he entered that night he was met with a sight he never expected to see from his parental figure. A serious looking Jiraiya sat on the small sofa, a wooden stool before him.

"Naruto," the older of the two said sternly, the dim light of the room making his face barely noticeable. "Sit here," he said, gesturing at the wooden stool in front, "We need to have… _the talk_."

"Um… okay?" Naruto responded unsurely, his face contorting up in confusion as he eyed the other, "what's this about?"

"Well you see," the older started, taking a deep breath before continuing, "When a boy reaches a certain age he starts developing certain… _urges_ to touch and be touched by…"

"I already learned about that stuff in school," Naruto interrupted and narrowed his eyes at his guardian, "plus your books really don't leave anything to the imagination." He kept his eyes narrowed, sensing something suspicious in the way the elder of the two kept talking.

"Good," Jiraiya sighed, swiping the imaginary sweat off his forehead, "good, then let's get down to business," he said grabbing hold of a pencil and his notebook, "How did you feel when that kid with the tats came to pick you up?"

"Kiba?" Naruto asked, confused with why the conversation headed towards his new friend, "I guess I felt… happy? Saved from the boredom today was going to be. Our boss called saying that because of repairs, Sasuke and I didn't have to work at the arcade today"

"Hmm," the other hummed, scribbling down in his notebook everything he heard and describing all the expressions and emotions Naruto's face and body language conveyed, "and how would you say you felt when _Kiba_ placed his arm around you?"

"Ehh… well the first time he did it I was a little uncomfortable with it. But he has done it some many times now that I'm kinda ok with it. Plus he feels warm. But then at the beach he was keeping his distance from me and it felt awkward, it didn't feel right. I'm used to him being all up in my… Hey! Are you writing this down?"

"Uh?" Jiraiya said, putting up a big smile that didn't fool anyone, "I'm not taking notes."

"Liar!" Naruto responded loudly, trying to reach out for the notebook but the other kept evading his grasp.

"Calm down, Gaki!" The novelist said, trying to keep Naruto's eyes from prying into the contents of his new research, "I'm not doing anything bad. I'm just curious about your little date."

"D-D-D-D-Date?!" Naruto's face paled when the other said that. But then the idea of it made Naruto blush in embarrassment like his face has never done before. Said embarrassment then turned red in anger because he figured Jiraiya was using his life experiences again to write another porn book. "Y-You think me and Kiba w-were… I ain't telling you about that, you pervert!"

"Pervert?" Jiraiya said, sounding offended at the name-call, "I'll have you know that I'm better than any pervert. I'm a super perv!"

"I'm still telling you nothing!" Naruto yelled, locking himself up in his room. He could hear his heart pounding when the pervert at the other side of the door started whining things like, "But you gotta tell me!" "It's for our family income!" "I'll buy you condoms if you need them!" "Let me write a book based on this!" "It's for research!" and "C'mon Gaki, I know nothing about boy love!"

"God dammit! Go away and good night!" Naruto yelled in frustration, cursing for the first time at the quality both Jiraiya and him shared. Persistency!

Once the teen heard the other man's footsteps leaving the door, he sighed in relief. The nerve! There was no way Naruto was going to let that pervert write a book about him or his friends. Damn he felt tired, but he knew he was in desperate need of a shower. Maybe he could get a little nap first. Yet when he got to bed, the thoughts about the day's events stirred in his head with heavy rotation."Darn it! I can't sleep!" He couldn't help it, he really had fun today and he was still feeling pumped about it. Maybe if he wrote it down he'll be able to get it out of his system. "Nah, that won't do," the last thing he wanted was to end up a crappy writer like Jiraiya was.

"I know!" Naruto announced enthusiastically, "I'll talk it over with someone!" At that announcement he felt a presence by his door and felt the need to shout, "Go take a cold shower!"

"Ungrateful Gakis," he heard the other say and smiled as he took out his cell to call the teme up.

Ring, ring, ring, "What is it dobe, this better be important." Sasuke's voice answered, sounding impatient.

"Well I'm important!" Naruto argued, before relaxing into his bed for the little chat he wanted to have, "Just called to talk, you know?"

"Can't right now, Itachi is visiting anytime now. Later, dobe."

Sasuke hung up.

"Bastard!" Naruto yelled into his phone but he knew Itachi always came first in Sasuke's list of priorities. The blond just hoped he wouldn't wake up tomorrow to hear news about an Uchiha being murdered in his sleep.

He then called Sakura up but her phone kept ringing until the voice recording started. Naruto sighed in disappointment because Sakura didn't answer but at least he'll get to hear her voice over the phone anyways.

"_Hi there, I'm Sakura Haruno so if you want to get in touch with me, leave a message with your number after the tone and I'll call you back if necessary. And if this is Naruto then no, I don't want to go out with you. Have a nice day!"_

Naruto stayed there with the cell to his ear long after the tone chimed in. He couldn't believe it. Sakura even rejected him via voice mail. That meant that everyone who called her would hear her rejecting him over and over again.

That was cold.

Still, without Sasuke or Sakura, Naruto didn't have anyone else to talk to. He thought Kiba but Naruto wasn't going to call him to talk about the brunet himself. Shikamaru and Chouji would probably be indifferent to anything he told them so it wouldn't be much of a conversation. And then there was the girl his mind had been drifting to the entire day.

Ino Yamanaka.

Ino liked to talk, that much was clear, and now that he thought about it he has been seeing a lot of her lately. And so far she hasn't been anything but nice towards him. He could still feel a weird tingling sensation every time he remembered how good he felt when she traced her fingers through his scars. But now that he remembered the things she had been doing for him lately, he realized he hasn't really done anything for her. They had been slowly developing a friendship but it seemed she was the one putting all the effort.

He still remembered how he used to chase after Sasuke and Sakura because he wanted so badly for them to be friends. He also remembered how frustrated he would feel every time it was made obvious that their friendship was one-sided. But at least those two were his friends now and even looked out for him from time to time.

That brought him back to Ino. Maybe he hasn't been fair to her. This could be his chance to show her that he was genuinely interested in developing and strengthening a friendship with her. To show her that he wanted to be able to talk to her freely from time to time. And with that set in mind, he called her.

-(At Ino's place)-

Ino had come back from a much needed shopping spree. Now she had cute and sexy little outfits she could were to school without violating the dressing code Principal Tsunade had enforced upon her. She had also done an up to par effort in all of her school projects and homework. Ino knew she could probably do better but she was satisfied with just being in the top ten of her class, academic-wise. The rest of her time, she spent it making sure that she had a school life she could enjoy. Because what was life without a little excitement?

So she sat there on her desk skimming over the names of her classmates. Because she was the class president, she had the official lists. This new list she had in hand, also had Gaara's name added to it.

She shivered at the thought of him. The day Gaara came in as new Konoha High student, she, being the class president, was ordered by Mr. Iruka Umino to show Gaara around the school campus. That must've been the only time that she had been actually glad she wasn't wearing anything that would attract the boy's attention. The school tour was hell for her. She kept showing him around but he not once spoke to her. It was like talking to a brick wall that followed her around the campus. The only time he spoke was when she was pointing at their classmates, mentioning their names and their social standing. When she got to her whiskered classmate she said, "Naruto Uzumaki, class clown."

Gaara had repeated Naruto's name aloud, closing his eyes as if he was committing it to memory, and Ino felt like if she said something she shouldn't have said.

But back to her list of names

"So who's next?" She wondered, trying to figure out what the next social project should be. She kept circling and crossing out the names she was interested or disinterested in. She started on alphabetically with the list again and she stumbled upon Chouji's name. The only thing new about him was that Coach Gai and junior student Rock Lee were forcing an exercise regiment on him. She guessed she could come up with ideas to help him get out of it but she sort of liked the idea of a thinner Chouji. She couldn't wait to see how he would look like. "I'll just help him out by making him eat healthier."

She saw Kiba's name but she crossed it out. When at the beach she had this idea that if she outed someone her name would be used with heavy rotation on people's sentences. And she still believed that but when it came down to it, it didn't matter because she had no solid proof on Kiba preferring boys. It was just an idea she cooked up because she was bored and frustrated. And she wasn't going to start a rumor based on a lie. So instead she kept skimming through the names until she got to Shikamaru's. "Shika, Shika, Shika," she shook her head when only images of him dozing off came to her mind, "I really need to find you a girlfriend so you can get out more."

Oh she liked that idea. She was always up for playing matchmaker. But she wanted something challenging this time around. Nothing too simple like cueing Neji about Tenten obvious crush on him, nor something like setting teachers Asuma and Kurenai up on a date. Those were couples waiting to happen and she had no doubt that within time, they would happen. She wanted to match two people that she knew needed a push or two in the right direction.

Her thoughts went to Hinata. Practically everyone in school could see that she had a humongous crush on Naruto except the clown himself. Ino wondered if Naruto would react favorably to Hinata's feelings if he ever became aware of them. Chances were he would. He was just too much of a nice guy. "But Naruto is blind to any other girl that isn't Sakura." Ino sighed. Plus she really didn't want to have Neji ranting at her for hooking Naruto and Hinata up.

"Seesh," her body felt cold for second there. She REALLY didn't want Neji giving "motivational" speeches to her if she made the NaruHina happen.

Then there was Naruto. Nothing would make him happier than having Sakura return his feelings, but Ino wasn't sure how she felt about helping Sakura end up with the guy that was ideal for her. And that was Naruto. If Sakura couldn't see it for herself then Ino wasn't going to cue her in.

"Damn, this is so boring!" Ino yelled. No couple fitted the category of star-crossed lovers. She wanted something that would be thrilling and a little dangerous, something where she would actually have to push her own limits in order to achieve it. She paced around her room for something to do. She had her Wii but she was already tired of playing Boogie, Brain Academy, Wii Sports and Wii Fit.

She then did what she thought would be the most productive thing she could do with her time. Pick out an outfit for tomorrow. She rummaged through her closet when something bright orange caught her attention. She remembered everything she had ever bought herself and she knew she had never walked out of a store with something orange. So pulling it out she was surprised to see an orange jacket.

"It's Naruto's!" she recalled, remembering she never actually returned it. She sniffed it to make sure it still smelled clean. The day after she had worn it she took it to the laundry to make sure she returned it in good condition. After all, she wasn't going to return something dirty. Ino always made sure the clothes were in top condition. "Guess I'll give it back next time I see him."

Then her phone rang and she was surprised to see it was Naruto. She couldn't remember one time when he had called her. It was a first. So naturally curious, she answered. "Hola Whiskers, I'm surprised to have you calling." She laughed and he asked her how she was doing. She told him "fine" now that she had finished her homework and had bought some new clothes but that now she was bored out of her mind. He laughed and she found his laughter so contagious she found herself laughing as well. She then asked why he called and he answered, "Just wanted to talk."

"Then let's talk!" Ino answered happily, flopping down to her bed as she asked him if he did anything cool today. He answered that it was a fun day because Kiba had surprised him at the door and invited him to hang out. She then asked him if he was hanging with other people too but Naruto answered that he was only with Kiba and Akamaru all day long.

"Just the two of you?" Ino wondered, now sitting on her bed and reaching out for her student's name lists. Naruto answered her with a "yeah" and proceeded to talk about the day's events. Ino found herself nibbling on her pen as Naruto told her about the run, about the meal and about the encounter with the thieves. Naruto's voice sounded really excited when he talked about how good Kiba was with dog trivia. Naruto even asked her if she knew that dog's mouths were supposedly cleaner than humans. She couldn't believe everything she was hearing about. And she started laughing hard when Naruto started joking about how this Jiraiya fellow suggested writing a book about boy love.

She hadn't laughed that hard in some time now, basically because people tend to not call her to tell her about their embarrassing moments. She was the gossip queen after all. Which left her wondering, did Naruto understood with whom he was speaking to. People cannot just tell her something this good and expect her to be quiet about it. Naruto must either really trust her or be really stupid.

She asked him if Kiba did something that struck him as weird. Naruto told her about when the brunet pressed his forehead against his but then he said that Kiba was just big on physical contact and that he was totally ok with Kiba being like that. It was nothing compared to becoming friends with someone with a personality like Lee's.

Naruto then went to talk about the message on Sakura's phone, but Ino was already tuning him out as she focused on her list, specifically on Kiba's cross-out name.

She circled it.

_**-x-x-x-(Chapter Eight: "Someone to depend on")-x-x-x-**_

**A/N:** Woot! Another chapter written! In the anime/manga Kiba had witnessed how Gaara murdered three genins in the forest of death. Naruto and Shikamaru had witness the same in the chunin finals. So I thought it would be fitting for all three of them to experience the power of Gaara together. Also, if anyone has any questions about Kiba being all touchy with Naruto, then check the anime fillers out. Not even Sasuke comes close with the amount of times Kiba has invaded Naruto's personal space. Anyways, did you guys notice Naruto kept comparing Kiba and Ino to Sasuke and Sakura throughout the entirety of this chapter? Be sure to keep that development in mind for the future chapters.

Oh well, I'm starting the "Sasuke Arc" next so be sure to tighten your seatbelts for the rollercoaster that is going to be. Or course, with Sasuke also comes a lot of Sakura so be ready for her too. Thanks for reading and I hope I get some feedback. Later!


	9. Into the Whirlpool

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _NARUTO_, if I did, Kankuro wouldn't be wearing that apron. Seriously Kishi, sent some love towards Kankuro and dress him in a way that he could get a decent amount of fangirls. However, Kishi gets an A+ for showing Temari's sexy legs. There is also a vague _BLEACH_ reference in this chapter that I do not own either.

**A/N:** _I'm happy with the reviews I got for chapter eight (Kiba's squad number) and I'm relieved the comments didn't get heated. I'm not particularly happy about how I wrote this chapter but I can't keep trying to fix it or I'll never upload it so here it is. Anyways, the "Sasuke Ark" begins… now!_

**WARNING: **Fangirl-ism *sighs* it comes with the territory, I suppose.

_**-x-x-(I'm traveling a path the rest of you can't follow)-x-x-**_

**Chapter Nine: "Into the Whirlpool"**

Itachi, Itachi, Itachi… it's always been about Itachi.

Dinner last night had been hell for Sasuke Uchiha and all it had taken was one phone call from Itachi to say he was visiting for the week. One measly phone call that barely lasted five seconds was all that was needed for Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha to cancel all of their previous meetings so that they could devote themselves entirely to fawning over their eldest son.

Fugaku had always been very strict when it came to the Uchihas dinning together like every strong family should. It has always been like that ever since Sasuke could remember. When Itachi used to live with his parents, said parents would immerse themselves in conversation with their eldest son, talking about his daily life, his goals, his achievements, his everything.

Itachi was a naturally born genius, and hence graduated from high school three years before the average student would've. To further develop his intelligence and potential, Madara Uchiha had taken the responsibility of broadening Itachi's horizons by taking him to different countries, colleges, cultures, tournaments, etc. It was something the proud parents had encouraged to no end.

Itachi was fifteen when Madara had taken him away.

Sasuke was barely nine.

After the departure of such a prodigy the dinners at the Uchiha Compound became silent. From time to time Sasuke would try to spike up some conversation with his parents but all he ever received was a dismissive "Hn" from his father and an unsupportive "that's nice, dear" from his mother. No matter how many trophies or certificates he was awarded with it remained that way.

But last night had been different. His parents talked like they had been bottling up seven years of their ability to speak and they were pouring it all out, both insatiably curious about Itachi's life. That's all his parents ever talked about. Not once have they ever asked Sasuke, "How was your day today?" but here they were wondering how Itachi's life was.

"Little brother," Itachi said, disrupting his parent's inquiries to pay attention at the Uchiha who had remained silent since the dinner started, "How was your day today?"

That question. He had always been the only family member who would ask about Sasuke's day, and every time he did Sasuke felt like killing somebody. Because every time Itachi would ask that question, their parents' eyes would widen a little in realization, almost like if they had somehow forgotten Sasuke even existed. "Where you doing something before I arrived?" the elder brother pressed on.

"My day was agreeable," Sasuke answered the first question as he tried to bite down the need to lash out at his parents, "And just before you arrived Naruto called to…"

"Naruto?" Itachi interrupted, taking a sip of his tea before continuing, "That name sounds familiar to me. Is he a friend of yours?"

"He..."

"Friends!" Fugaku said like if he had just had an epiphany, his head snapping back to Itachi to say, "How silly of your mother and I. Here we were talking about your achievements and we haven't bothered to ask about your friends."

"Oh dear, please tell us," The mother encouraged her eldest son, "And is there a special girl we should know about?"

Itachi then resumed talking about Kisame, Deidara and Sasori. His parents were so immersed in him they didn't even register their youngest son excusing himself from the table.

When Sasuke was eight years old he had once asked his mother if Fugaku only liked Itachi. His mother smiled at him and told him, "Whenever your father and I are alone, you are all he ever talks to me about."

Sasuke had believed her then. He had been truly happy, wondering what kind of things did his father said about him. Now, in the present time, Sasuke supposed he had been an ignorant child once, clouded with bliss when the possibility of his father favoring him came to exist, because as the years progressed Sasuke kept replaying that scene in his head, searching for any signs of dishonesty in his mother. Because as the years passed so did his suspicion that his mother had only told him that to make him feel better.

If that was the case… it meant his mother had lied to him.

It might have been a simple white lie, but it was still a lie.

And Sasuke learned to resent it. But it was not his parents he grew to resent. No, he resented the obstacle that obstructed his parents from recognizing his potential. That obstacle he vowed to overcome one day was the reason his parents neglected his right to be.

That obstacle was Itachi.

Itachi, Itachi, Itachi… it's always been about Itachi.

_-x-x- Itachi Uchiha, I curse you, I hate you. And I live my life for one single purpose. To see you die-x-x-_

Konoha High was, and is, a prestigious school but by no means an exclusive one. It wasn't all that expensive and it held several programs to help the students and their parents pay the school tuition. That's how people figured students like Uzumaki Naruto managed to attend the school that was held in high regard because of their excellent teachers, their educational yet non restrictive atmosphere, and their electronic equipment that always managed to keep itself on par with the changing times. Though their cafeteria food left little to be desired except for the days when their teacher Ayame felt like helping around free of charge.

It was also important to note that children from successful and prominent families attended said school. While the Uchihas and the Hyuugas were the most influential and wealthy, the Inuzukas and the Aburames weren't that far behind, and the respectable names of the trio Ino-Shika-Cho (the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi families) were all wealthy in their own rights.

Of course the majority of the students belonged to families that one way or another managed to make an honest living like it was the case for Haruno Sakura, but then again there were also those who had to help around the school so that their school tuition could be paid. That was the case of Rock Lee, TenTen and Naruto Uzumaki whose family backgrounds were unknown to even a socialite like Ino. And although it was clear that Rock Lee and Tenten aided the school wherever sports equipment and training were involved, it was rumored that Naruto helped with the gardening. But that was only a rumor nobody cared enough to confirm the validity of.

School for Sasuke was the opposite of home. Whereas his presence went largely ignored where he lived, the very soil he walked on was made a land mark where he studied. Even before entering the school gates he could hear the uncontrolled giggles of girls hiding in the bushes to sneak peeks at him, probably wetting their panties in the process of it. The braver girls would try to ambush him to make him notice them, and as usual he would dodge and bypass them with a tactical grace that couldn't even be found in the textual books written by Shakespeare. And although most of the girls were persistent in trying to show their devotion and adoration for him, he never felt the need to place restrictions order on any them because for every fangirl that tried to touch him, two others would intercept it.

Only two girls ever managed to bypass the other girls without getting trapped in their clutches, Ino and Sakura, the unofficial co-presidents of his fan club. He opened his locker and a hundred of scented love letters piled out from there. He sighed, picked out his books and locked his locker, not sparing a second glance to the love letters he was stepping on.

He felt a menacing air in his homeroom and he took notice that all the male students looked horrified and all the female ones looked predatory. Ino was smiling at him, petting a stuff animal some random no-name had given her before she turned down his date request. A smiling Ino was never a good thing.

He spared her a glance. On the inside he was wondering if he should be worried. On the outside, he remained as bored as ever.

Realization hit him as soon as he pulled the chair to his desk. Ino was going to change the seating arrangements again, and all of his fangirls were waiting for him to take a seat so that they could surround him. Still, he somewhat enjoyed sitting in that desk near the window. There were a lot of things Sasuke disliked, and he liked so very few things that he'd be damned if he couldn't have them.

So he sat there, already dreading what was to come.

"I sit next to Sasuke!"

"No, I'm the one who's sitting next to Sasuke!"

His fangirls, as expected, were having a screaming match until their class president cleared her throat. The rest of his fangirls moved away as Ino strutted her way to the sit next to Sasuke. She wore a triumphant smirk as she let her weight descend to where the chair would accommodate her sexy behind. Except her weight didn't stop falling where it should have and next thing she knew she had roughly landed on the hard floor.

"Fat chance, Ino-Pig!" Sakura said, petting the chair she had pulled from under Ino. The fangirls started battling one another again, and as it usually happened, half of his fangirls crowded themselves behind class president Ino while the other half behind Sakura, the vice-president who once again had challenged the former's authority.

It was at that moment Naruto entered, apologizing for being late. But when he didn't hear Ino nor Sakura marking him up as tardy, he noticed those two were arguing over something. Sakura, he noticed, sounded like heaven to him even when she was yelling to the top of her voice. He quickly greeted his friends before going over to Ino and Sakura. He first said "hello" to Ino who held a hand to Sakura's face to pay her full attention to her fellow blond.

"Hola Whiskers! Here!" She said, taking out the orange jacked from her school bag. It was neatly folded, ironed, and smelled clean. "I had forgotten to give it back to you."

"Oh, thanks Ino. I sorta forgot about it too." He said smiling sheepishly, extending his hand to retrieve his jacket but Ino pulled back and eyed him with scrutiny. In less than five seconds Ino made Naruto take off the jacket he was currently wearing only to be replaced with the one she brought him. Telling him the one he had on looked dirty, wrinkly and it was simply not cool to be seen like that. The boys in the room started to whistle lowly, the scene looked remotely similar that of a housewife straightening her husband's necktie before he went to work. "There," Ino said, her hand removing strands of blond hair from Naruto's face, "All better."

"Thanks, Ino!" Naruto said smiling, trying to will down the incoming blush on his face. He was still getting used to having a girl around who always tried to make him look good, and again a dark corner of his mind wondered if this was how his peers felt when their mothers fixed their shirts before going out. But then again, what was the point about wondering about something he'll never get to experience?

Only one thought made it to the mind of the other students. Ino was Naruto's new main girl. Inner Sakura was seething for three reasons:

1) At the sight of Ino acting like if Naruto was her boyfriend.

2) Because she figured that Ino was only pretending to be nice to Naruto because she had some sort of scheme in mind that somehow involved gaining the trust of Naruto.

3) Because Naruto was only supposed to blush around Sakura. Ino was stepping into private territory, and breaking & entering was considered a crime.

Naruto turned to Sakura and saw a fierce determination in her eyes that made his heart skip a beat. He loved the expression on Sakura's face whenever she was intent to fight for something she wanted.

"Morning, Sakura-chan," he said only to be shoved out of the way by his pink haired beauty. Sakura had business to attend to with Ino after all._"Maybe she's busy."_ Naruto thought to avoid feeling let down that Sakura didn't spare him a glance. It would've been nice if she would had done like Ino and given him her full attention but then again beggars can't be choosers.

He shrugged, eyeing an empty seat next to where Sakura was standing. He took it and sat down instinctively. Apparently that was a mistake because before he knew it he had a crowd of girls screaming at him to move it. Maybe his instincts weren't meant to be followed after all. He was surrounded and was starting to sweat bullets, that is, until Ino shattered the wave of aggression by nicely asking Naruto to lend her his desk.

He was about to move when he felt an intense glare keeping him there.

It was Sasuke's.

The Uchiha's dark eyes were promising what would surely be a slow and painful death if the blond boy dared leave that desk open for a fangirl to take. Naruto never knew how Sasuke did it, but every time the brooding teen gave him that menacing look, Naruto felt like if he was being transported to another dimension where he could see his own death seventy-two times over in just three seconds.

Sasuke's glare seemed to relax when Naruto stopped making any conscious effort to move out of the desk. "Hn," Sasuke smirked to himself, causing all the girls to fawn over him again. He knew one of these days the idiotic blond would be of use to him. Regretfully he basked himself in glory way too soon.

"Na-Ru-To." Sakura said, her imposing figure hovering over Naruto's quickly shrinking one. "That chair is mine!"

"Shit!" Sasuke cursed mentally, and fixated an even deadlier glare on Naruto, one that promised that if Naruto gave in to Sakura's whim then Sasuke would forever lose any scarce respect he might have had held for the cowering blond.

The glare had no effect whatsoever.

"'Kay, Sakura-chan" Naruto replied, smiling towards his crush, happy that he was doing something to make her happy. Sakura happily took the seat that was left open for her, her eyes emanating how she was laughing mockingly at Ino, and one by one, the fangirls that were on Ino's side were switching to Sakura's. It was an open declaration of war since everyone had just witnessed that even after the short display of affection between Ino and Naruto, the male blond still held Sakura in a higher regard. Meaning that Sakura was still Naruto's main girl and that Ino was just the other woman.

The vice-president had just showed-up the president and there was simply no way Ino was going to let Sakura get away with that. Especially not in front of Sasuke. And like it always happened, Ino and Sakura started another heated exchange of insults.

Naruto, oblivious to the power struggle he had accidentally caused between Sakura and Ino, sat at another desk in front of Hinata, causing the pale-eyed girl to blush. As an after thought, he remembered the warning glare Sasuke had given him when Ino asked the blond to move. But when Sakura asked him to move he did it so automatically he didn't even register how the glaring teen would feel about it. _"Whoops"_ he thought as he stared back at Sasuke only to find his suspicions were correct. Sasuke was glaring at him, holding a pencil for Naruto to see. Then Sasuke clenched his hand into a fist and the pencil broke into nine separate pieces.

Naruto gulped. Sasuke would do well on his threat of revenge.

Speaking of pencils… "Hey, Hinata!" Naruto turned and leant forward on Hinata's desk, "Can I borrow a pencil?"

"Y-Yes?" Hinata stuttered when her longtime crush invaded her personal space. She's been exposed to Naruto's proximity a lot during their recent study sessions so now she could finish her sentences around him without much trouble. However when she was going to hand him the pencil, Naruto reached to grab it and his hand brushed hers.

"Whoa," Naruto said, grabbing hold of Hinata's hand, "Your hand is so soft!" he said excitedly, then he entwined his fingers with hers, "and so small too," he added. Hinata was tacking sharp intakes of breath as Naruto's hand raped her own. She was trying her best not to pass out. All she could think of was that Naruto was touching her and he seemed to like it. It was cloud nine for Hinata. That's why when Naruto released her hand, grabbed the pencil, and sat up straight in is chair, her face plummeted down onto her desk since her body was suddenly cut short from her temporary high. And she got those reactions by Naruto only holding her hand! If Naruto ever did more than that she was sure her body will completely shut down for who knew how long.

"Fine!" Ino yelled, angrily glaring at her audience, "What are you people staring at? Take your seats already!" And with that everyone seated immediately. Sakura won this battle, Ino thought with disdain, but the war was far from over. Ino would make Sakura regret she ever tried to cross her.

At that moment Gaara arrived and noticed all the students, except for the Uchiha, were seated differently. Despite the newcomer's unspoken promise of danger and raw sex, he was clearly violent and insane. Even the most flirtatious of girls knew how to keep their distance from him. His presence alone was enough to make the entire class quite down, a feat not even Principal Tsunade could pull.

Ino smiled warily, she knew her usual tactics of manipulation weren't going to work with this kid but she still had to make sure she kept him in line. After all, as class president she couldn't show that she was slightly frightened by him. Then an idea for exquisite revenge lighted her inner world when she spotted the empty desk in front of Sakura. Ino smiled. Sakura frowned. _"She wouldn't"_ Sakura thought. The class president's smile turned into a devious smirk. _**"That bitch wouldn't dare!"**_ Inner Sakura said confidently. Oh but Ino could, and she would. Motioning to the desk directly in front of her, the mighty class representative said, "Gaara, you can sit right here."

Sakura all but shitted in her short pants.

Without moving from his spot, Gaara lowered his expressionless gaze to the desk in front of the girl with pink hair that he failed to bury alive. "That desk is unsatisfactory."

Sakura sighed in relief.

Without another word being spoken, the red-haired psycho killer glided to the seat to the left of Naruto. The seat was currently occupied by one of the Uchiha's fangirls.

"Out." The redhead said, his blue-green piercing eyes causing the danger alarms in the girl's head to go off like crazy. In times of danger the responses commonly known as "Flight or Fight Response" were activated by the SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (SyNS) in people's brains. And her brain told her to jump out of her seat and dash to the farthest empty seat available within the boundary of the four walls. She did just that.

Ignoring the stares of his new classmates, some furious and some terrified, Gaara took the seat.

Kakashi then waltz in with a heavy stack of paper the students recognized as their graded tests. When the students leaned forward to peek at the grades, Kakashi gave them a stare that promised they didn't want to find out. The students dejectedly leant back to their chairs, afraid of what their grades may be.

The silver haired teacher gave his usual speech about how only thirty-three percent of his students managed to get an A on the test. He didn't seem fazed at all that the majority of his students were failing. Then he started to hand the tests at random order.

Another **'A'** for Sasuke. _"No surprise there"_ He thought as he vaguely wondered what Naruto's score would be. The blond had been skipping study sessions with Sasuke and Sakura lately, in order to study with the quiet Hyuuga girl. So naturally Sasuke felt curious to some extent.

"Here ya go, Naruto." Kakashi said, folding Naruto's exam so that the other students couldn't peek at it. Naruto took it and opened it as he sat down. Then he froze.

"Na-Naruto-kun,' Hinata whispered worriedly, "How um… how… was it?"

"I RULE!!!" Naruto yelled, pushing a fist up to the air. Sasuke dead-panned, figuring any minute now Naruto would try to rub his apparently good grade in Sasuke's face. The dark haired teen was surprised when instead Naruto turned to Hinata and gave her a bone-crushing hug, muttering a lot of quick "thank you" and "you're amazing".

Hinata looked like if she was going to faint at any given moment. And she did. When Naruto released her from his arms she fell harder against the floor than anyone ever imagined possible. Everyone flinched at how hard Hinata had crashed. It was really a painful sight to see and everybody was unconsciously rubbing their skulls as if they were the ones who pummeled against the tiled floor. Kiba and Shino were staring at Naruto incredulously as if asking "Was it to much to ask to put her down gently?"

Naruto looked like the proverbial child who was just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He was shocked and didn't know what his reaction should be. "Why did Hinata faint?" he asked in an almost whisper, completely missing the stares he received, all looking at him unbelievingly. Naruto turned to see if Sasuke could offer him some aid but Sasuke was staring at him with a condescending glare that revealed just how much of an idiot Sasuke thought Naruto was. "Hehe," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head nervously.

Then his blued eyes suddenly lit up before squinting like that of a fox about to pull a prank. His hands started groping Hinata's body as if in search of something. Everybody else lost their ability to speak at the scene before them. Kakashi was glad he always wore a face mask or else all of his students would have witnessed the perverted flush on his face.

"Here it is." Naruto said, puling a phone from Hinata's pockets before speed-dialing a number. After a few rings, Neji's voice could be heard from the other line.

"Hinata, is something amiss? We are in the middle of class."

"Take that Neji!" Naruto shouted through the phone, "I just got an **A** on Kakashi-sensei's exam! Haha, I'm that awesome."

Everybody sweat-dropped

Minutes later, Neji stormed in Kakashi's class, ranting furiously and demandingly. "Mrs. Kurenai Yuuhi has just expelled me from today's lesson because _somebody _couldn't control the level of his voice when speaking through a phone in the middle of class. It is painfully obvious that _somebody_ has no idea of what the word 'inconspicuous' means. Henceforth, if I have been sent to detention I suspect the same can be expected from Uzumaki, am I correct?" Neji asked Kakashi in a way that sounded more like an order than an actual inquiry.

"I suppose," Kakashi answered aloofly, as if the thought of it hadn't really occurred to him. "Oh well," he sighed, telling Naruto to go to the same room Neji had to go for his detention. Naruto gladly did so, shoving his test on Neji's face for the Hyuuga to see.

"So?" Naruto asked excitedly, "See, I got a good grade."

"That appears to be the case," The junior responded with what actually sounded like a hint of amusement, his eyes quickly revising all of Naruto's test answers before handing them back to sophomore, "If anything, this only proves what I already knew. Hyuugas are better mentors than Uchihas. Now follow me, we got detention to attend plus I need to give you a much needed lecture on controlling your level of excitement in public places."

Naruto waved it off with a couple of "yeah, yeah" but followed Neji regardless. He wasn't looking forward to another of Neji's condescending lectures but he somehow suspected that this time the long haired brunet wasn't going to be so mean with his words.

The students started laughing when Naruto left with Neji. That blonde really was the class's clown but they all found it so funny that Naruto had even managed to get an exemplary student like Neji also in detention, though their laughter quickly came to an end when Kakashi announced another school project. It would be in pairs, and before he or any of the girls had any chance to say anything else, Sasuke quickly announced that Naruto would be his partner.

As the other pairs were being assigned, Sasuke couldn't help but to glare at the empty desk where Naruto resided earlier. It bothered him a little. When Sasuke had first tutored the class clown, the blonde's grades had indeed improved but Naruto never did anything remotely close as to giving him a bone-crushing hug as a thank you. Not that Sasuke wanted to be hugged by the idiot but still… And Neji, what was that all about? Since when did Naruto cared more about what Neji thought than about what Sasuke thought. Every time the blonde used to get a good score he would be soon to try and shove it in Sasuke's face. Claiming that one day he would be better than Sasuke. The Uchiha would always scoff at those remarks and then make sure he studied harder so that Naruto would never reach his level.

Naruto had always wanted to be acknowledged by Sasuke first, and unlike the Uchiha's fangirls, Naruto tried to do it by challenging him, not by adoring and respecting him. And if Sasuke could steal a line from one of is favorite TV shows he would say, "Adoration is the furthest state from understanding." No matter how much his fangirls claimed how they understood him, he would never spare a glance to any of them.

But now, Sasuke observed broodingly, Naruto was busy with the Hyuugas instead. "Hn," the brooding teen scuffed, like if he cared about what the blond idiot did or didn't do. Sasuke had other things in mind, like his bond of hatred with Itachi. Any other bond was just a needless distraction from his real goal as an avenger.

(At Orocimaru's class)

Orochimaru had never been strict about who partnered with whom at his lab, as long as the students finished their given tasks fifteen minutes before the lab was over. Those students who didn't were due to get a special make-up exercise with Orcochimaru at the end of the day. That alone was enough motivation for any kid to do their best to avoid "special" lessons with their lab teacher. Even if that was the case, Sasuke had always partnered with Naruto. His motives for it could've been because for every girl that tried to get with him, two other girls would "man-handle" the girl away. Ino nor Sakura took this class in the same time slot that Sasuke did so he didn't have to worry about them.

As for the guys, some of them simply didn't want to work with him while the others were afraid that if they came within distance of the prized Uchiha their asses would be whooped by a girl. Naruto served as the prime example of it. Everyone had witnessed several times how Sakura would beat him up whenever Sasuke was involved. The reason of why Naruto and Sasuke always partnered up together could've also been that while Sasuke was the best, Naruto was the worst. So they being paired together created some sort of balance.

Sasuke never really questioned the fact of why he always paired up with Naruto. All he knew was that he enjoyed it every time Naruto would screw up because it gave the Uchiha a chance to prove how much better he was. It also help that Naruto was the only guy genuinely interested in being around Sasuke, not because of adoration, popularity or good grades.

That's why today Sasuke was a little perturbed when he saw a heavily clothed classmate of his at his lab table. Before Sasuke could voice his question Shino said, "Naruto and Kiba have decided to work together today, giving us the opportunity to do the same."

"Hn," Sasuke responded, his gaze wandering off to indeed see Naruto and Kiba laughing at each others' jokes on their respective lab table. "Whatever," Sasuke added, "Hopefully those bunch of idiots won't burn down the place".

Once Orochimaru gave the instructions, Sasuke immediately got into scientist mode, putting his game face on as he started naming the things he needed for the experiment only to find that Shino had already set everything up.

"Hn," Sasuke offered, as his eyes traveled to Naruto and Kiba to see them still trying to figure out what the procedure of the experiment was. He muttered "idiots," as he proceeded to measure the quantities of solutes needed only to find that Shino had already gathered everything again.

"I measured the quantities while you were spacing out." Shino offered, having the indecency to do things without an Uchiha ordering him to do so. As on cue, Sasuke glared at Shino only to find that it wouldn't work since Shino always wore sun glasses.

"Hn," Sasuke muttered again, looking away from the guy who infuriated him. His sight wandered back to Naruto and Kiba and it lingered there. He watched as Naruto accidently let a crystal bottle fall, Kiba jumping to catch the bottle before it connected with the floor but accidentally hitting the thermometer off the table, making Naruto jumped to grab it. The after math was both of them on the floor with their crystal instruments unharmed, and both laughing freely at the accident that almost happened. "Bunch of idiots".

"Working as a team will help us work more efficiently," Shino offered, working on his part. Sasuke cursed under his breath and proceeded with his experiment. It all went into a pregnant silence before Shino spoke up again.

"Sasuke… my favorite foods are wild grass salad and winter melon. I don't like foods that have a strong odor."

"So what of it?" the raven-haired teen responded rudely, wondering why the other was mumbling crap.

"Since we're on the same team, we should know about each other. It affects our teamwork."

"Are you lecturing me?" Sasuke answered annoyed by his lab partner. He also didn't like that he had to tilt his head up to meet with Shino's gaze. The guy was just that tall. When he noticed Shino was still waiting for a proper response, Sasuke said "Uchiha," as if it answered all that Shino needed to know about him. When he still felt Shino staring at him expectantly, Sasuke sighed and answered, "I like tomatoes and I hate sweat tasting food."

The experiment carried on and Sasuke's team finished first, as he always did. But this time he broke a new time record at finishing first. Hence he had a lot more time to spare than he usually did. He reached out for a book entitled, "A Hundred Ways to Kill the Man you Hate but everybody else Loves," to pass the time yet his concentration wasn't fully on the book. He kept stealing glances of Naruto and Kiba's slow progress. "Figures, put two idiots together and you'll get a bigger idiot." He mused until Kiba rested one of his arms on Naruto's shoulders and both started laughing at something Naruto apparently said. Sasuke's eyes narrowed when both idiots' bodies started moving closer and closer to one another until both were leaning on each other to be able to stand because apparently the joke that Naruto was telling was so funny that their legs were giving out.

"_Since when did those two idiots behaved so familiarly around each other?"_ he wondered. He could've sworn those two were avoiding each other when they were at the beach, which led him to another question. _"Why the fuck are those two teamed together in the first place? Was it Naruto's idea or Kiba's?"_

"Hn," he decided he really didn't care to find out. Naruto was slowing somebody else for a change. Though at least _he_ was company. Dark glaring eyes lingered to Shino who was apparently reading a book about bugs. Not that Sasuke could really tell if he was reading since Shino always wore those shades. Was he even aware that they were indoors? "Hn" another worthless question Sasuke didn't really care to find out. Normally Naruto would be talking his ears off while he ignored the attention-hugging blond by imagining ways to kill Itachi. But for some reason, without anybody bothering him, Sasuke's mind couldn't find the will to venture up to the world of imagination. The silence Shino created was deafening.

Finally lab was over, and Kiba and Naruto had somehow managed to finish in time. As the students were leaving, Shino turned to his lab partner and said, "The experiment itself was good but it was our talk what I thoroughly enjoyed today, Sasuke Uchiha. Until we meet again."

The brooding teen just started at Shino's retreating back as if the bug-lover was a walking enigma. _"Did we even 'talk' today?_ "Hn, it's just another wierdo who'll distract me from my goal." He concluded and was about to leave when Orochimaru called him in to talk about his future. A talk Sasuke thoroughly ignored. What did others know about his future? Sasuke was going to pave it his own way.

---x-x-x-(Lunch period)-x-x-x---

Because of Orochimaru holding him back for a bit, the line to the cafeteria was disappointingly long for Sasuke, that is, if he was any other guy.

"Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!" a red haired girl with glasses said, waving her hands frantically to gain his attention, "I'll let you cut in line!"

Sasuke stared at her, Karin's presence wasn't as dominant between her peers as Ino and Sakura's were, and Karin didn't annoy Sasuke as much as Ino and Sakura did (probably because they didn't take as much classes together) but that didn't mean he could let his guard drop around her either. Because unlike Ino and Sakura who were trying to turn him into their boy toy, it was quite apparent that the only thing Karin wanted from him was kinky sex. Something she would try to achieve even if she had to drug Sasuke to do so.

"Hn," Sasuke said, about to cut in line next to her. After all, he probably saved himself ten minutes by doing that since Karin was number twenty-three in a line that extended to forty-four students. Immediately the other girls in line started whispering things among themselves while gushing over Sasuke.

Karin wasn't expecting Sasuke to actually accept her invite but now that he did she wasn't going to complain about it. All she had to do know was reel him in further, and as soon as he came within arms length she would clutch to his arm and bury it between her breasts so that he'll never be able to escape without having to touch her in inappropriate (or very appropriate) places.

Unfortunately for her, all the other girls in line noticed what Karin was achieving and one by one each and every girl started copying her, inviting Sasuke to cut in line to where they were. And before Karin knew it, Sasuke was already ordering his meal while she still stood twenty students behind in line. Much to the chagrin of every guy who had been standing in line like good students should.

"You bitches!" Karin yelled accusingly, "You are all just copying me because I know how to lure Sasuke-kun in, you stupid unoriginal bitches in heat! One of these days you will pay!" but her threats were largely ignored by her peers.

"Hey Sasuke," a happy blonde waved, cutting in line next to the avenger, " could you.. ugh.. ouch… ahh".

Sasuke turned to see the guy who called his name being beaten down by a bunch of girls who were furious that the blond dared cut in line, and even worst, dared talk to Sasuke. Naruto was known as the bane of every Sasuke fangirl, after all, the scar-face teen was the only guy who constantly sought Sasuke out to talk to him, interrupting the time the girls had to pursue the Uchiha.

If Sasuke had willed it, the girls would stop attacking Naruto but for some reason Sasuke couldn't pin-point at the moment he felt like Naruto really did deserved to get beat up.

"Geez," Naruto complained when the girls finally shoved him outside the cafeteria line, scratching the back of his head while his eyes were squinted in frustration. "Sasuke, why didn't you call them off?"

"You seem to have pulled through just fine," the dark raven replied unapologetically, still distracted by his musings of Naruto getting beat up.

"Still, it hurt like hell!" Naruto said annoyed, yet the animosity in the atmosphere seemed to have dissolved almost into playfulness. "I oughta give ya a good one as payback."

"Go ahead," Sasuke mused, his voice as casual as ever. "You got what you deserved, idiot. Next time warn me before pulling another stunt like that so that I can tell you in time how stupid your idea is and prevent you from doing it."

"Huh?" Naruto asked confused, "Did I do something wrong? Was it because I let Sakura sit next to you?"

"Hn," that's part of it.

"Is it because I teamed up with Kiba?"

"Hn," Getting warmer.

"Nah, that can't be." Naruto said, waving it off, "you looked like if you were having so much fun with Shino. You were even reading together and stuff."

"We were NOT reading together."

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Naruto said waving it off again before staring at the cafeteria line like a puppy who just got kick out by his master. "Talking to bushy brows took more time than I thought it would. Now I have to get in line to…"

Sasuke never got to hear Naruto finish that sentence because his perceptive senses were screaming _"Fangirl alert! Fangirl Alert!" _and his inner alarm only rang like that whenever Ino or Sakura were involved.

"Whiskers! Oh Whiskers!" said a cheery Ino, with heated ramen cups in her hands, "There's a tree I want to seat under but I have this extra ramen cup and I don't know who to share it with." She fake pouted, fanning the ramen cup tauntingly for Naruto to see and smell.

"Is that for me?" Naruto asked, losing himself in the smell of it, "but how… where did you heat it?"

"Naruto, Naruto, Naruto," she shook her head like if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "A class rep like me has certain accessibility to the faculty room," she said while raising her ramen cup to Naruto's nose so that he could get a better whiff of it, "I dragged Kiba there already, all I need is for you to be there too" _"And to see up close the interactions between you and Kiba, bwahahaha!"_ she thought as she effortlessly lured Naruto away from the Uchiha.

"What in the hell?" Sasuke wondered when Ino not only refuse to spare a glance at him but instead focused solely on the dead-last of the class. Though he quickly decided he could care less about what Ino's intentions with Naruto were, if any thing, he felt relaxed that his blond idiot of a friend had managed to ward off one of the Uchiha's most persistent fangirls. The raven-haired teen was about to eat his meal in peace when his fangirl alarm went off again.

He didn't even have to look to know it was Sakura.

"_Damn!"_

For the entirety of his lunch Sakura had stalked him relentlessly even when he had told her in what he assumed was a perfectly clear sentence to, "Stay away from me, you're annoying."

He tried to enjoy his meal but couldn't shake off the pink-haired girl that for the life of him he couldn't figure what the fuck Naruto even saw on her. She was the very definition of "Annoying". Trying to focus on something else, he casually glanced to his right and saw the new student staring at him from the distance. He then raised an eye-brow when the red-haired classmate mouthed, "I will kill you".

"_Freaks, all of them,"_ Sasuke thought, his attention regretfully being drawn back to Sakura who was still talking about something he clearly wasn't paying attention to. He tried to focus on what she was saying but his ears apparently filtered fangirl language and hence her words would not reach him. _"Damn, why is she still here, didn't I already told her to move it?"_ he wondered. Normally he would have to dismiss her once for her get the hint and leave him alone for the time being but today that was not the case. He let his mind wander off to three different past events where he had successfully gotten rid of the pink pest.

_**-Past Scenario I-**_

**Sasuke:** Then I'm going home

**Sakura:** Oh, hey Sasuke-kun, wait! How about right now we work on our teamwork? Just the two of us.

**Naruto:** Sakura-chan! Forget about Sasuke! Just you and me, okay?

**Sakura:** Fat chance, Naruto! Like if I'd ever waste my time with you.

**Naruto:** But what's so special about Sasuke anyways? He's mean, emo, lame…

**Sakura:** Take that back you idiot! You're just jealous of Sasuke-kun.

_**-Past Scenario II-**_

**Sakura:** Hi Sasuke-kun. How about we two go out on a date?

**Sasuke:** Not interested.

**Naruto:** Forget him, Sakura! How about you go on a date with me instead?

**Sakura:** As if I'll ever go out with somebody as uncool as you. You'll never understand because Sasuke is on a level of cool you'll never achieve.

**Naruto:** How the heck is Sasuke any cooler than me? I'm the best there is. Believe it!

**Sakura:** Wrong Naruto! Sasuke is smart, cool, hot, nice…

**Naruto:** Nice?! He is a TOTAL JACKASS!

**Sakura:** Cha! Take that back or I'll finish you!

_**-Past Scenario III-**_

**Sakura:** Here Sasuke-kun. I made you some sweat dumplings.

**Sasuke:** For the last time, Sakura, I hate that stuff.

**Sakura:** But Sasuke-kun, I made them just for you.

**Naruto:** Yumm… mmmm… whoa… this actually tastes awesome!

**Sakura:** NA-RU-TO! Why the hell are you eating Sasuke's dumplings?

**Naruto:** Eh? He said he didn't want them. Might as well give it to me. I'd appreciate anything you do and respect you for all your efforts.

**Sakura:** What kind of cheesy line is that? Hell No! Hands off the dumplings you lame-o!

**Naruto:** But Sasuke doesn't like them! Why can't I have them instead?

**Sakura:** Because I hate you! You idiot!

_**-End of Past Scenarios-**_

After reviewing the three past events where Sasuke had had to deal with Sakura's ongoing blabbering, he concluded that every time Sakura would stalk him, Naruto would distract her and those two would end up arguing giving Sasuke the perfect chance to casually escape. The method wasn't set up in anyway but instead occurred naturally. But now without Naruto here to distract Sakura, Sasuke couldn't seem to successfully shake her off. "_Damn it, where is that loser when you need him_?" Sasuke thought bitterly.

The rest of the day kept flowing in the same fashion, even in Iruka's class when the teacher said to group themselves in teams of three so that they could do together an exercise that would help them develop analytical reasoning, Naruto had ditched him to pair up with Shikamaru and Chouji, leaving Sasuke trapped with Sakura and Ino.

Today was definitely not a good day for the Uchiha.

When the final bell rang, signaling the end of today's lessons, Sasuke remembered he did not want to go early to home because Itachi's fans (his parents) were there, so he decided he would walk up to the blond idiot and invite him to study together someplace else, after all, he had yet to tell Naruto that they were teamed together for Kakashi's next assignment. He found Naruto beside his locker, wrapping some weights around his wrists and ankles.

"Hey, dobe," Sasuke said casually, "How about we go study at your place today?"

"No can do," Naruto answered, tightening his weights.

"Hn?" Sasuke replied, figuring he'll have to resort to the most powerful double-edge weapon in his arsenal, "I'll even invite Sakura to come by." There was no way Naruto could resist Sakura. Out of nowhere Sakura appeared beside Sasuke, with heart in her eyes. She'll never pass up a chance to spend time with Sasuke.

"Can't do that either," Naruto answered, stretching his hands to Sasuke's. Getting the hint, the Uchiha helped the blonde up to his feet.

"Hn," Sasuke replied again, a little agitated. "Does the reason you can't study with us have anything to do with the weights you're wearing?"

"Aha," Naruto answered smiling as he stretched his muscles a little, "I asked bushy brows to help me get into better shape so that next time Sakura-chan is in trouble I can save her. So bushy brow said that I should run some laps with him after classes were over and he gave me these cool weights, see?" he pointed at them like if they were fashionable, "After that I'm going to meet up with Hinata at the Starbucks to study with her. Neji will probably be there too. Don't know why but every time I study with Hinata I see Neji sitting around with either Tenten or bushy brows. I think today he'll be with bushy brows."

"Oh, Whiskers," Ino called, strutting towards him because she was curious as to why Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were standing there together. If they were going someplace, Ino wanted to find out so that she could invite herself in.

"Hey Ino," her fellow blond said, waving goodbye to the others, "I'm gonna do some training so I'll tell you all about it tonight, okay?"

"Sure thing," Ino smiled waving goodbye, "Call me like you did yesterday, at seven!"

"_Yesterday at seven… yesterday at seven…?"_Sasuke thought, pulling his phone out to check his received calls. He noticed that 'seven' was the hour when Naruto had called him yesterday.

-x-x-x-(brief flashback)-x-x-x-

_Ring, ring, ring, "What is it dobe, this better be important." Sasuke's voice answered, sounding impatient._

"_Well I'm important!" Naruto argued, before relaxing into his bed for the little chat he wanted to have, "Just called to talk, you know?"_

"_Can't right now, Itachi is visiting anytime now. Later, dobe."_

-x-x-x-(end of brief flashback)-x-x-x-

"USURATONKACHI!" Sasuke seethed, his hands clenching into fists, his fangirls swooning over him because he spoke in his native language. Everything that occurred today was starting to make sense to one angry Uchiha. Naruto's actions today, from praising the Hyuugas to teaming with Kiba, from having lunch with Ino to involving himself with Shikamaru and Chouji, to even taking advise from Rock Lee. _"That loser is trying to get back at me for hanging up on him!" _he thought in true Uchiha fashion. After all, every Uchiha thought the world revolved around them. Not once did the thought of Naruto trying to mold himself into a class president occur to Sasuke.

"So Sasuke-kun," Sakura said lovingly, "Forget Naruto, we can study together without him."

"Not interested," Sasuke said dismissingly, not even batting an eye at her before leaving the school premises.

"I don't get it," the pink haired girl sighed, staring at the blonde girl beside her, "when did boys become so difficult to read?"

"Don't ask me," Ino let out, wondering the same thing about Sasuke, "how would I know, I'm not a boy."

Both girls failed to see what was really going on in Sasuke's mind. He was convinced that Naruto was trying to carry out a little revenge for the dismissal Sasuke had given him. _"Idiotic blond. Trying to act all high and mighty pretending to be popular like me"_ Sasuke thought as he made his way home. It was clear to him that Naruto had forgotten who his best friend was supposed to be and Sasuke would have to remind him of it. Then he will teach the stupid blond the perfect way to carry out revenge.

The raven haired avenger knew all about revenge as he was going to one day fulfill it against his brother Itachi, and in his revenge, Sasuke had even made a place for Naruto to participate in. Heck, when Sasuke becomes a successful business man he was planning on having Naruto serve under him. That way he would not only make sure that the blond stayed off the streets but he will also have his friend there with him. Sasuke really didn't enjoy other people's company, and while the blonde did annoy him, his presence was not unwanted.

Sasuke couldn't have Naruto parading himself on the palm of others. If there was something Sasuke could say he gained from his years in Konoha, it was a best friend. They always did things together and he'll deal with anyone who tried to break that routine because that was what he was. An avenger. He took some time to think it over and remembered that it was when Ino first wore Naruto's orange jacket that everything around the blond idiot first started to change.

"Ino…," the avenger said to himself. He'll deal with her first.

_**I'm traveling a path the rest of you can't follow**_

_**I've decided on revenge, that's always been my reason for living.**_

_**-x-x-x-( End of Chapter Nine: "Into the Whirlpool" )-x-x-x**_

**A/N:** _Well that's it for today! Expect a minor Sasuke vs Hinata showdown in the next chapter, hahaha, it'll be fun. The next chapter is also Ino's Squad Number so be expecting a strong NaruIno scene there as well as the unveiling of her master plan. Will Sasuke be able o throw a wrench into Ino's plans? You'll have to wait to find out. And finally, to appease those who constantly PM but never review, there will be a foreshadowing event there that'll might help you guess with who I intend to pair Naruto with in the end. Till Later! (Feedback would be nice)!_


	10. To Perceive and Deceive

**Disclaimer:** Do you see a Yin Seal on Sakura's forehead? No, that's because I do not own Naruto. C'mon, Kishimoto, make the sluggies take Sakura to Sluggie Mountain where they can train her or something.

**A/N:** Remember guys, I'm going to hint how the story will end in this chapter. Of course, this chapter does contain my usual character pairing teasers so make sure not to confuse the "foreshadowing" with the "possible pairing teaser". Heheh… good luck with that.

**IMPORTANT NOTE:** I guess this is mostly my fault but I'd like to clarify something. In _**chapter 5**_ Naruto told himself he would stop saying "Sakura-chan" because he figured he was kissing up to Sasuke's heritage, hence he made a conscious effort to leave the "-chan" out. However by the end of _**chapter 7**_ Naruto called her "Sakura-chan" again with affection purely laced on his voice. He was so scared of her getting hurt that he needed to remind her and himself that he would always be there for her. The "-chan" was that reminder since she is the only girl he adds that suffix to. Even though I told you guys (and girls) to make a note of Naruto calling her like that in the end of said chapter I do recognize that I never made Naruto explain why he started calling her that again. My apologies.

**WARNING: **I intend to sex-up the chapters to something that goes further than Ino's seductive walk or Kiba's hidden sexual urges. It won't be by that much… yet, but I thought it fair to give a warning even though this story was **rated-M** for a reason. Oh and by the way, there is an infamous scene here that happened both in the anime and the manga, you'll know what it is when you read it. But because it DID happen I don't want to hear any shit about it happening here, 'kay? Happy Readings!

-_**x-x-x- (You'll never survive until you learn to look underneath the underneath) -x-x-x-**_

**Chapter Ten: "To Perceive and Deceive"**

"I know, I know already," Naruto said with an exasperated grunt. The teen had been wanting to go off to school for the last ten minutes but his 'keeper' kept him hanging by his only escape route, the front door. His 'keeper', a strong fifty-something year old man who refused to act his age, kept going over and over the smallest things a 'parent' should remind his 'son' of before leaving him to fend alone for two weeks or so.

"Oh and one more thing, gaki," Jiraiya said while trying to use his weight to press close the luggage he'd be taking to his emergency trip for some urgent _research_ material, "I left you enough money to survive during my absence. Any other expenses you make you'll have to take it out of your work money. Eat three meals a day, don't talk to strangers, keep your grades up, brush your teeth and wear a condom if you invite someone in. I supplied your nightstand with the rubber, and don't worry, I got you your size."

"I said I know this already!" Naruto all but growled, he needed to leave already or risk being late for homeroom. Also, he didn't like to be reminded of stuff like if he was still a little kid. Raising his right hand up, he started numbering with his fingers his retorts to everything Jiraiya had said, "I know 'bout the money, you already gave me a card. I'll eat whenever I'm hungry, I'll talk to however I want, my grades are just fine thanks to Hinata, I'll brush my teeth if I remember and I'll… I'll…" an embarrassed flush of red tinged his face before crying out, "When did you fill my nightstand with condoms and HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW MY SIZE?!"

"But gaki," the older man sobbed, pretending to be offended and underappreciated by the younger's outburst, "A parent should know this kind of things."

"No they don't, you sick pervert!" Naruto retorted before disappearing like a flash of yellow and orange into his bedroom, checking the contents of his nightstand. An even heavier flush of embarrassment painted his face redder when he confirmed that the condoms were indeed his size.

"Congrats to you, gaki," the adult of the two said with the perverted version of the Cheshire Cat's grin on his face, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively, "I'm sure your special someone will be very happy with it."

WHAM!

Naruto had pushed his bedroom door flat against the pervert's face, causing said pervert to run to a mirror in search of what could've been a broken nose. "Damn old pervert," the teen let out exasperatedly, making a mad dash out of the apartment when he realized what hour it was. "Perverted hermit, I'm gonna be late!" he shouted, grabbing hold of his school bag as he leapt out of his four walls to immediately only to crash into someone.

The blonde didn't know what happened but he felt dizzy and winced a little because of the pain that vibrated through his skull from making contact with something equally as hard. Pressing his hands against the wooden floor he lifted his upper body up only to realize he was on top of someone with narrow brown eyes and fairly long hair tied into a spiky ponytail.

"SHIKAMARU!" Naruto yelled in recognition, pointing a finger to the boy who was underneath.

"Damn it, Naruto," Shikamaru complained covering his ears, "Keep it down, you're giving me a splitting headache."

Naruto would've retorted something in response if it weren't for the third presence that sat himself beside the two teens. Both teenagers glanced to their side to meet up with the sight of a white-haired adult throwing curious glances at the two and taking notes.

"Hmm," the adult observed, pressing a hand to his chin. The two teens were in a very compromising position with a brunet submissive on the floor and the blonde topping him. A part of Jiraiya felt proud that Naruto was on top. Yet Jiraiya's experienced eyes also observed that no article of clothing was tussled, no hair was out of place, no saliva nor bite marks on their skin, and no hands were groping anything. All he could see was a red spot on both teen's foreheads. He concluded that their current position had been purely accidental.

Slightly disappointed, Jiraiya stood up and shook his head disapprovingly at his charge, "No progress what so ever, gaki. It seems that I won't be missing out on anything while I'm away. Heck, I bet you won't be getting your first kiss anytime soon either."

"What was that?" Naruto asked angrily, causing Shikamaru's eardrums to almost break once again.

"I said, "Jiraiya grinned teasingly, "That I guess you won't need those condoms because you won't even make it to first base. See ya!" The adult secured himself in the safety of his apartment once again but couldn't resist the urge to throw one more teasing remark to the blonde he housed. So peeking his face through the door he grinned and said, "Oh and by the way, the other boyfriend who picked you up the other day was better looking."

WHAM!

Naruto had kicked Jiraiya's face back inside the apartment and locked the door, choosing to ignore how the elder man complained about "ungrateful gakis" and "is this what I get for being a supportive parent?"

"I don't swing that way!" Naruto whined loudly, crossing his arms and pouting furiously until he felt something writhe beneath him.

"Um, Naruto," a teen with the permanent scowl sighed lazily before pointing at the legs that were still straddling him, "could you get off?"

"Eh?" the blond responded, smiling sheepishly before getting up and helping the other to his feet. "So what'd you doing here?" he asked curiously.

Shikamaru massaged the back of his neck before sighing out, "Ino." Upon the curious and eager look Naruto gave him, the lazy teen chose to give more words to his response. Although he was a little thrown off when Naruto immediately smiled with glee at the mention of Ino's name. _"It can't be, nah."_

"Ino kept nagging me to make sure you didn't skip classes today. That woman is so troublesome sometimes, I swear. Apparently she has some important business to discuss with you. Don't ask what."

"I don't think Ino is troublesome," Naruto let out, thinking aloud as he made his way down the stairs of the apartment complex, Shikamaru following in tow. "She's pretty nice."

"_Nice?"_ Shikamaru thought, hoping it was a joke but knowing it was not. "That is so embarrassing, Naruto, you honestly think she is nice? How dumb can you be?"

Naruto frowned at that and poked a finger into the other's chest, "What makes you so smart? Why don't you explain it so that I can understand?"

"C'mon Naruto, you know how women are." Shikamaru said like if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "You can never figure them out. You never know where you stand with them. The smallest things could put you in their bad side. Always playing little mind games with you. Trying to make you do what they want. They're just a big pain basically."

"She's not like that," the blonde said unsurely before nodding to himself in confirmation. He picked up his pace again and Shikamaru had to dash forward a bit just to fall into the same pace the other was.

"_She has him roped," _the lazy one concluded as he stared at the other incredulously. _"Naruto is just too stubborn to see it for himself". _Shikamaru had to hand it to Ino though; Naruto trusted his view on her more than Shikamaru's insight. And what? Naruto has been around her for roughly a month as opposed to Shikamaru who has known her since forever. But if Naruto couldn't see it himself then Shikamaru wasn't going to waste his breath. Sure, Ino also bossed him around but it wasn't because he was under her mind games it was just because it was too troublesome to go against her.

"_Women in general are troublesome,"_ he thought reminding himself of three particular women. First, it was the demon that was his mom, always nagging him about shores and school stuff. He became one of the class representatives just so his mom would stop pestering him. It was a wrong move because it was then that he met the other bossy female in his life, Principal Tsunade. That lady had him going around the school camp like if he was some sort of personal messenger boy. It was such a hassle. And last but not least, Ino. That girl bossed him around like no other girl has done before but he couldn't bring himself to resent her because, aside from it all, that girl was also his most supportive cheerleader, always urging him to do better.

He only hoped he didn't meet a fourth woman that would try to boss his life.

Their walk to school had turned into a pregnant silence until the lazy one remembered something the old man from earlier had said.

"Say Naruto, I know it's a drag and all to come out and stuff because you're obviously trying to keep your relationship a secret but was Kiba that guy the old guy was referring to?"

"Eh?" Naruto responded stupidly, looking seriously confused by the question, "What secret relationship?"

"You know," Shikamaru nudged after releasing a sigh, "that guy who is supposedly better looking than me. Your boyfriend."

"…"

"…"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!!"

If Shikamaru's eardrums weren't broken before, they sure were now because after that Naruto continued shouting stuff like "I don't swing that way,", "Kiba is just my buddy," and "why is everyone around me a pervert."

**-x-x-(At Konoha High)-x-x-**

Sasuke had met up with Naruto at the school gates and thoroughly dismissed Shikamaru with a leveled glare that could make anybody shit a brick.

The lazy Nara waved off the glare and opted instead to seek his desk so that he could lay there and nap for a bit. Whatever business Sasuke or Ino had with Naruto wasn't his business, and frankly getting caught in it was too much trouble to be worth it.

"Walk with me," was Sasuke's greeting to the blonde, strolling by without so much as a "hello". He didn't even look over his shoulder to make sure his friend was following. He didn't have to. He was Uchiha after all. The girls around were swooned by his lack of manners when it came to being polite.

Naruto didn't get why girls were always falling for the brooding teen. It couldn't have been for his looks because in Naruto's mind, the only noticeable feature Sasuke had was his hair. Black hair with a tint of blue, bangs that roughly framed his cheeks and the back of his hair shaped like the rear end of a chicken.

"Y'know" Naruto said after falling into step beside the teen with the chicken-butt hair, "Normally people say good morning or something before acting all high mighty and stuff."

"My apologies," Sasuke responded sounding anything but apologetic, "Good morning your highness, did you sleep well or should I tell the Sun to come up at an hour of your choosing?"

"Bastard!" Naruto responded, crossing his arms in defiance. "You don't need to be an ass 'bout it." He said choosing to squint his eyes at the ceiling, all in favor of ignoring the jackass beside him.

Big Mistake

Because as he rounded up the corner he *PUFF*ed into something and next thing he knew his face was buried between two warm and comfy mountains. Except mountains weren't warm or comfy and mountains definitely didn't breath. Yet he could feel those mountains rise up and down, pressing his cheeks together and burying him further into that cleavage.

"_Cleavage?"_

He lifted his hands callously and pressed them against those breathing -_"they're also soft"-_ mountains so that he could pull his was face away.

"The nipples get harder if you pinch them" a voice he knew all too well said, freezing him on the spot. Tentatively his blue eyes looked up to meet the sadistically playful grin of one Anko Mitarashi. His eyes darted off to his hands that were still on the girl's P.E. teachers' breasts. His reaction was immediate.

In a blink on an eye he had forced himself against a wall, his hands flailing wildly and aimlessly, his knees shaking and his face flushed as he muttered a bunch of unintelligible excuses. It did nothing to dim the now predatory gleam in Anko's eyes.

In another blink of the eye the purple haired teacher had pressed him even further against the wall to the point it was beginning to hurt. She restrained her prey just like a snake would. All chances of escaping from her were blocked by the grip she had on him. But he officially knew he was doomed when her hot breath caught his ear, eliciting and quick and delicious shiver down his spine that outright surprised him.

The back of his mind briefly wondered if Jiraiya would be proud of the position his adopted son found himself in.

"Ya know…" Anko said, moistening up her lips and accidentally (**read:** intentionally) brushing her tongue against Naruto's right cheek, "Most guys would be dead right now for groping me like that." She chuckled maliciously as she pressed one of her legs between Naruto's to separate them, "I wonder how I should go about punishing you."

Naruto gulped. He could feel her leg rubbing against him.

"Ahem," a person scoffed, pulling the teacher off the cornered student. It was Ms. Kurenai Yuhi and she was looking anything but amused, with her red lips pressed into a thin line and her red eyes leering. "Just what exactly is going on here?"

"What?"Anko replied with a sly smile, not a drop of guilt in her voice as she excused her actions by pointing at the blonde, "The brat came on to me."

Kurenai glanced at Naruto who was still pressed against the wall breathing heavily as if he was recovering from some sort of shock. She ran a hand through her dark wavy hair before leering back at her colleague. "That boy can barely stand on his own two feet and you expect me to believe _he_ came up to _you_? Go back to work or I'll have to report you for sexually harassing one of our students."

"Ah chill out and I'll buy you a cup of coffee," the P.E. teacher responded unworried by her colleague's threat, "I was only playing, besides…" she said turning around to wink at Naruto, "the little shit-stain over there was enjoying it just as much as I was."

Naruto finally managed to even out his intakes of breath once Ms. Yuhi had successfully dragged Ms. Mitarashi to the principal's office. For once he was glad that Ms. Yuhi lived up to her reputation as the 'Ice Queen of Konoha' because if it wasn't for her no-nonsense attitude he didn't know how far the snake lady would've gone with him.

Sasuke was amused by his friend's situation. "Hey kid you're not hurt, are you?" He smirked. "Scaredy cat."

"What you'd say?" Naruto asked angrily, feeling belittled by the teasing smirk of the Uchiha.

"Um, nothing," Sasuke answered nonchalantly before letting his smirk grow wider, "I just didn't know you had the hots for the teacher."

"Do not!" was the other's weak response. The dark haired teen only continued smirking and the blonde wanted nothing more than to personally wipe that condescending smirk off of the Uchiha's face. "Stop smirking already!" he commanded, raising a fist to salvage his own pride.

"Sorry dobe, but I can't change the expression on my face as easily as you can."

"What was that?"

Sasuke only grinned, because his reply was about to come in the form he was sure would make Naruto throw a temper tantrum.

"Hn."

"Damn you, bastard!" he cursed but otherwise fell into step with Sasuke again. They had gotten side-tracked enough as it was and certainly the school's late bell wasn't going to wait up on them. Though Sasuke wasn't that worried about it because he was sure that, at least on his case, Ino and Sakura would let it slide. That's why he stopped Naruto before entering their homeroom to give him a soft smirk (**read:** the closest thing to a smile he can pull off).

"Know what, dobe? I think today will be fun after all."

Naruto stood grounded on his spot even after Sasuke had disappeared into the room. _"Fun?"_ he thought, _"The bastard, that even in his better days acted like if he had a stick far up his ass, actually wanted to have __**'fun'**__ today?"_ Naruto couldn't even recall the last time Sasuke had said he wanted to have 'fun'.

He smiled like the true prankster he was. "About time the bastard lightened up."

**-x-x-(Lunchroom)-x-x-**

Through the first subjects of the day Sasuke sat himself remotely close to Naruto and actually had participated in conversation with something more than his usual "hn". However Sasuke did space off once, something about mentally making an anagram with some of the letters in Itachi's name. Words like "Icha" and "Itch". Naruto wanted to play the game too and made an anagram with some of the letters in Sasuke's name. But when Naruto came up with the word "uke" Sasuke forced him to stop. The blond prankster didn't really understand why Sasuke became so agitated by that word but figured it must have been a Japanese thing.

But taking advantage of the subject of Itachi, Naruto asked Sasuke if he really intended to kill him. Sasuke was to say yes but at seeing to worried expression written across Naruto's face, he decided to give more detail to his answer, explaining that he only wanted to destroy what Itachi represented to the family. Not to actually murder him.

Naruto was enjoying spending so much time together with the other but he was beginning to wonder why Sasuke was the only one who was talking to him today. If the blonde had paid more attention he would've noticed that the reason was because Sasuke had glared away anyone who had tried to.

Now it was time for lunch and Naruto was mighty hungry so he was planning to sit with Chouji today. His tubby friend was on forced diet by Ino yet his mother kept packing industrial quantities of food for him. Shikamaru wasn't a fan of the diet so he had asked Naruto to help him eat their food in front of Chouji, knowing that their tubby friend would crumble and break away from the diet the instant either Naruto or Shikamaru tried to eat the last chip of Chouji's BBQ Potato Chips.

Well, that was what Naruto had intended to do but as Sasuke and him passed by their lab room, a class they thankfully didn't have to take today, a girl with pink hair came skipping out of there with her white lab robe on, bragging about how once again she was the first one to finish the experiment. And to the dread of Sasuke, she was one girl he couldn't glare away, especially when the blonde beside him had so gleefully shouted "Sakura-chan!"

"Sasuke-kun!" was Sakura's immediate reaction, completely overlooking the fact that it was Naruto who had called her. She let her unbuttoned white robe drop from her shoulders to her elbows and pressed her chest together using her arms, so that her breasts could look more plumped.

Sasuke sighed in annoyance and Naruto completely overlooked that Sakura had disregarded him.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" the blonde said again eagerly bounding to her side, "Me and Sasuke are going to sit together, wanna come with us?"

Of course, Sakura's ears weren't deaf to that invitation, even if it had come from the wrong guy. She reached her pockets to count with how much money she was counting on but quickly noticed she didn't have her money on her. "_It must've slipped out of my pockets during lab"_. "Okay Naruto," she said sweetly, making Sasuke cringe. He knew the girl only said Naruto's name sweetly when she wanted something out from him. "I'll sit with you but help me find my money first. I think I left it in the lab." The blonde happily obliged to help and the Uchiha saw no other option than to also lend a hand, broodingly.

When entering their Lab Room the three saw Zaku Abumi sitting on top of one of the lab tables with their Lab Teacher whispering something into his ear.

"Ah kukuku," chuckled, licking his lips as he ran a hand through the brownish grey hair of the boy under surveillance, hair that always seemed to spike up a little but more to the front than to the back. "There's a familiar face," he said as he quickly glanced at Sakura before looking back a Zaku, "Isn't there something you'd like to tell her?"

Zaku groaned and pulled a couple of bucks from his jeans before lamely stating, "Here Sakura, this belongs to you." The girl in question quickly snatched her money before jumping back to shield herself behind Naruto and Sasuke.

"Good," the teacher hissed, back-handing Zaku with an audible smack to his head, "Now leave before I decide to report you." With that Zaku scurried away faster than rodents would. The other three students were about to do the same but their teacher ruined those plans. "Ah not you, Sasuke-kun, I have something I might intrigue you with. The other two may leave."

"Hn," was Sasuke's response, dismissing the others with a wave of his hand.

"This sucks," Naruto complained once Sakura and he were back to the school halls. Yet he quickly found a reason to smile because now he could eat lunch alone with Sakura. "Believe it!" he shouted with encouragement before turning around to Sakura only to not see her there. There was, however, a sticky note on one of his sleeves. He plucked it out and read _**"-Sorry Naruto, I just remembered I had something else to do-"**_

It was Sakura's way of saying than since Sasuke wasn't eating with him then she wasn't either. Naruto shrugged it off. He knew she would come around eventually. Remembering about Chouji he was about to head there when he felt a finger trace the hair line across his neck. Said finger continued tracing his hair line from his neck to around his ear. Then the finger jumped to his jaw line and traced it all the way to his chin.

Seductively

And it smelled like flowers.

Naruto followed the trajectory of that finger as it made its way to the platinum blonde hair of a girl that made him feel at ease immediately. He watched as her finger dropped from her bangs to her neck, to her cleavage, to her sides and finally stopping on her firm ass as she twirled around for him.

And what an ass it was.

He was half-mast in an instant and blushed nervously, hoping she wouldn't notice.

She asked, "Coming, whiskers?" before looking over her shoulder with eyes that could convince anyone to do the Devil's deed with a snap of a finger. If there was a double meaning to her words, he didn't register it. All he knew was that he followed.

After fixing his jeans so that his response to Ino's prompting wouldn't be noticeable, he reached up to her and asked her where they were going. She simply pointed at the same tree she had been sitting under every time she needed to talk to him. She then huffed and said, "I should be mad at you, you know. Why didn't you call me last night like you said you would?" She gave him a very skeptical look, "I thought you always kept your word."

"I… uh… I," he stammered when he heard the hint of anger in her voice. He didn't want her mad at him and to his defense he was going to call her at seven like he said he would. He had been staring at his phone for ten minutes waiting for it to be seven so that he could call her. But at 6:59pm, something that caught him by surprised had happened. Sasuke called. Naruto remembered that his friend kept him by the phone for three hours, even when the majority of the conversation was being done by Naruto. Sasuke had said he wanted to "chat". But because of their chat, Naruto sort of forgot to call Ino.

"So…?" Ino asked, tapping her foot as she waited for his excuse.

"I'm sorry," he let out, feeling deflated because he didn't keep his word. He hated not being able to keep his word. "I know it's no excuse but Sasuke called and I ended talking to him instead". He then smiled remembering some of the things the Uchiha had suggested, "Today we're supposed to go Ice Skating for a bit."

"_Ice Skating?"_ she pondered. There was only one place in town where they could ice skate. She raised a hand to pet him as a sign that she had forgiven him but stopped herself from doing so when she saw him flinch, closing his eyes.

When he opened his eyes he saw her staring at him with _**"what the fuck?"**_ clearly written on her face. He laughed it off nervously and apologized, saying it was just a bad reflex he developed whenever girls were angry at him.

But Ino knew that the "girls" Naruto was talking about was only one "girl" and she had pink hair. The blonde female grinned. Her plan would be easier to carry out if Naruto already reacted this way to girls. In a sense she felt thankful to Sakura.

She sat against her tree and petted her lap, wordlessly telling him to lay his head there. Naruto refused and sat next to her but before he could relax she grabbed him by the ears and pulled him down to her lap, huffing while waving a finger at him, "Okay listen here, whiskers, either you get comfortable there or I'll make you get comfortable."

"Okay, okay," he said, moving so that he could lay comfortably with his head on her lap, looking up at her, "better?"

She responded by automatically tracing his whisker-like scars with her fingers. She didn't know why but she liked the feel of them. It sort of felt like thin wires, plus Naruto seemed to like it if how he hummed was any indication. So she repeated her motions until she felt him completely relax under her touch, his eyes gradually closing in the process. Taking her time to study his scars she remembered she still didn't know how he got them in the first place. But those scars looked kind of cute on him, and knowing how no guy liked being called cute, she couldn't prevent herself from teasing him.

So she pinched his cheeks and said, "You're so cute and innocent. Are you a virgin?"

"Am not!" Was Naruto's quick retort before going over what she said and blushing profusely, "I'm not c-cute. Hot probably." He snickered; nobody had ever accused him of lacking self-esteem that much was for certain. But for the other part, he stammered a little, "And I just want Sakura-chan to be my first… that's all."

It definitely wasn't a good idea to openly desire _that_ women in front of Ino but she probed the angry vein on her forehead to go down. Still, she couldn't allow him to openly profess his love for Sakura like that, at least not yet. She had already scheduled Sakura's downfall would be this Friday and it would happen the instant Ino made Naruto profess his love publicly again. She decided to tease him a little more.

"Is that so, hmm," she hummed like if she didn't really believe him, "I dunno about that though. I bet you're the type of person who falls for whoever kisses him first."

"No I'm not!" he pouted like only he could at his age, and crossed his arms, "Besides, who said anything about anybody kissing me? I'm the one who is gonna be doing the kissing, and then that person will fall for me."

"Oh really?" she said, leaning her face down to his, "want to try it out, whiskers?"

"I-I-I…" He blushed heavily and started moving his legs about. She took a look at him and noticed the strange mixture of nervousness and lust o his face, but more nervousness than the other she thought with a smile. Yet hearing how his legs kept writhing on the grass, she took a peek and was amazed at what she found. His jeans were orange. It surprised her that she didn't notice it before but chose to ignore that odd color choice for jeans for now.

There was something more that caught her attention.

Glancing down she could see through his jeans his manhood straining to escape its confines. He kept squirming on the grass, trying to hide his cock from her as best as he could. He managed to aim it down his leg but it didn't really help matters. She realized it must have been bigger than average and it probably wasn't completely hard yet, seeing how Naruto was trying t will it down.

She had never taken into consideration that his body would react this way to her but then again, why shouldn't it? She was hot wasn't she? Maybe Naruto wasn't as innocent as she thought him to be.

"Relax, whiskers," she laughed, caressing his cheeks before adding some distance between their faces, "I was only joking. You should've seen the look on your face. It's so easy to read."

"No it's not,"

"Yes it is!" She replied, and noticing he was still squirming a little she decided to save him the embarrassment by bring up a subject she was sure would kill his mood. "Tsk tsk, whiskers," she said giggling at him, "Let me tell you a secret. People who are easy to read are not cool at all. You'll have to learn how to steel your facial expressions a little so that you can at least look half as cool as Sasuke-kun."

That sure brought Naruto down like a ton of bricks. Now instead of emitting heat he was grumbling loudly about Uchiha bastards with sticks far up their asses. She knew comparing him with Sasuke would do the trick.

Tracing his scars again to get his attention, she started discussing the reason she brought him here to begin with. She told him about how there was going to be a dance that Friday hosted by the seniors. Apparently people had to dress formally to attend it and it was a "couple's" themed dance. So it was important to go with a date. Ino then explained that the dance was all a ruse to raise funds for the money the seniors were severely lacking of. Without that money, the seniors couldn't afford prom night. "But that isn't what really matters," she explained, telling him that since this was a school activity it was important to be seen with the right partner. Having the right partner would definitely boost popularity points.

"Oh, I get it," Naruto said, going over the things his fellow blonde said. He had been nodding to everything she said. Apparently going to this party will help him in the long run for the position of class president so it was a chance he couldn't pass up. But he was still curious about the other thing she said so he asked about it, "Why don't the seniors have money for their prom?"

"Oh that?" she scuffed, pulling behind her ears the hair that covered her right eye, "it's just that their class' representatives did a lame job managing their money. Don't worry about it though; it's not going to happen to us as long as I'm class president."

After feeling proud of her statement she continued to talk about how socially important it was to attend this school party but Naruto was no longer hearing her because a sudden realization had dawn itself heavily on him.

Ino was class president.

He immediately felt stupid because he knew he should've figured that out a long time ago. If he wanted to become the class president it meant… _"I have to go against Ino for the title."_ But against Ino? He didn't know what to feel about that.

The current class president stopped talking when she noticed her fellow blonde had stopped nodding to everything she was saying. She studied his face. _"Is he sulking?"_ She could already feel the rain cloud looming over the sulking boy. She was having none of it. Plugging her two index fingers into his mouth she stretched his lips to the sides, making him writhe in pain a little before realizing him. He made a move to get up but the pressed her hands against his shoulders and forced him to stay.

"Stay," she commanded, pouting at him until he stopped making any efforts to move. "Good," she said, giggling as she clapped her hands together, "Now remember that I like you better when you have that stupid-happy smile on your face. No more frowning, 'kay?"

"Okay," he said, smiling contently when Ino placed her hands on his cheeks again. He allowed himself to mewl into her touch when she traced his scars again.

"_Better,"_ Ino thought contently. She kept caressing him until she felt a warm hand lacing its fingers with one of her own.

"You know," Naruto said, looking up at her as if examining her face. He grabbed hold of her other hand and smiled at her. "You're really nice."

"Eh…?"

"I mean it," he assured, "I think that I really-"

"Tah!" she yelled, bounding up to her feet and shoving him off her lap in the process of it. The blonde male rubbed his head and looked up at her, but the blonde female only jumped a good distance away from him before starting to point at random directions, laughing nervously, "I just remembered I hadn't asked Shikamaru to the dance yet. You should do the same, whiskers, or else you'll run out of girls. See ya!" And with that she scattered away.

Naruto wasn't so sure about what to make about the scene that just played itself before him but he took a mental note that Ino looked cute when she started fidgeting nervously like that. For as long as he remembered her, she was snobby, shallow, self-centered and loud. Now he figured that he really didn't know her then because now he knew she was a giving, smart and beautiful person that simply knew what she liked and what she didn't.

Ino Yamanaka was very encouraging and very informative. She was proud, still loud, but definitely attractive. And he wasn't going to deny he liked the way she traced his scars.

Every time he spoke to her he felt like if she was giving him her full attention. Speaking of attention, he also recalled she always seemed to notice every single detail. Like for example that day at the Mall when he bought her ramen with the money he had left. He was hungry but figured it would be wrong if he ate and she didn't. Before that day he hadn't really spoken to her but even though that was the case she read him like a book and bought ramen in returned for him.

Maybe she was right. Maybe he really was that easy to read but it also made him feel closer to her. "Ino," he whispered her name. She was just another girl he had now promised himself he would protect from anyone if the need ever arrived; just like he had promised himself to always protect Sakura.

-x-x-

Somewhere else Ino was having similar yet conflicting emotions about her fellow blonde. "He thinks I'm nice?" She couldn't believe it. Her ability to play mind games on people was nothing new to her but normally those people would at least be able to sense they have been caught in it. People like Sakura and Shikamaru had always been able to dispel any trap she had tried to lay on their minds. But with Naruto, it was like if he wasn't the least aware of it.

It was mind blowing.

She felt flattered but at the same time she felt like choking him for being such an idiot. Thankfully her legs sprung into action and led her away from there. Her sexy legs served more purposes than simply showing them off, after all.

Still, there was something about Naruto she couldn't quite grasp yet. From the starting point she had made it clear to herself that he was just a pawn she was using to get back at Sakura. But the more time she spent with him, the more uses she found for him. But also, the more time she spent with him, the more she grew to like him. If today was any indication, she found herself eagerly searching for his smile first, without taking notice of how distasteful his fashion sense was. That brought her back to her initial thought.

Naruto really was the nice guy she suspected him to be, and that's why she knew that in this game he would finish last. She could tell he already trusted her. More than that, it was like he was blinded from reality. The fact that he thought she was nice was, yes flattering, but irrefutably stupid of him. It only made it easier for her to manipulate his actions. And she would continue to do so, because as stated before, he was a means to an end.

The party that Friday was that end. If she played her cards right she would walk out of that night with her position as the most popular girl in class sealed for life. Not even Sasuke will be able to catch up to her popularity. So what if the social lives of Sakura, Kiba and Naruto hit a speed bump or two. That's what college was for. To start anew in a new atmosphere. Besides, if things went well then she would've single-handedly destroyed the triangle that Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura were. If they were split, she'd be doing a favor to Kiba and Hinata, because they would have a chance with Naruto. And she would be doing Sasuke a favor, because without Naruto, there would be no Sakura pestering him. Then Sakura wouldn't have an advantage over her.

For all she knew she was doing her community a favor. At least that's what she would tell herself to sleep through the night. The mind was an incredible thing. If she could convince herself of that lie then it might as well be the truth.

That aside, she still had two stunts to pull before the end of the day. One of those stunts involved laying a trap for a certain Inuzuka.

**-x-x-(After the last bell)-x-x-**

The rest of the classes had gone by in the same manner as his earlier ones for Naruto. Sure, Sasuke had been a little moody after his talk with Mr. Orochimaru but he quickly recovered his demeanor when Kiba tried to sit beside the blonde on Iruka's class. The raven haired teen had all but jumped to the seat the brunet with triangular tats on his face wanted to take. Kiba quirked an eyebrow at this but Sasuke just stared at him like if he was a nuisance and said, "It's occupied."

Naruto didn't notice the exchange because he was currently trying to figure out what Hinata was trying to tell him and the stuttering wasn't making it easy. The way she kept fidgeting her fingers together made him wonder if maybe she was speaking in sign language.

But now Naruto Uzumaki was grabbing some books he was going to need for his little study session. His favorite student tutor, Hinata, had informed him that she had an appointment later today so she suggested that they studied earlier than usual in Room 210, a classroom she had separated for them.

Sasuke accompanied his friend to the room and was pleased to see that the shy Hyuuga girl was still not there. After Naruto entered, the Uchiha stayed outside, awaiting the arrival of the girl who to this day he has never spoken to.

And there came Hinata Hyuuga with some books of her own, ready to tutor her hyperactive school crush. She admired how he never gave up and always wanted to do his best. And she was happy that she was helping him improve his grades by helping him get his act together. It was bliss. Her blissful march came to a halt, however, when she spotted Sasuke Uchiha standing in front of the door that would lead her to Room 210.

He stood there firmly, with his arms crossed and his stare fixated on her.

When she came within eight steps from him, she met his dark eyes and wordlessly asked him to please stand aside. Sasuke however, looked down upon lilac eyes giving her a leveled glare as he pretended not to know what she wanted from him. He glared as if expecting her to speak up, something he knew she wouldn't do.

Hinata fidgeted under his glare, trying to find her voice but failing miserably. Sasuke raised the level of his glare and started taping his right foot, pretending to grow impatient with her. The Hyuuga girl, in return, gave a low bow and retreated slowly before picking up her pace and running away from his sight. Probably to find shelter in her home, in her room, in her pillow, so that she could cry herself to sleep for once again allowing her shyness to get the best of her.

Sasuke figured he should feel sorry for the girl, but it was her fault for not being able to speak for herself. So instead he smirked. It was a known fact that Sasuke and Hinata have never exchanged words and today was no exception.

"Hn," he allowed himself a moment to bask himself with his accomplishments so far, choosing to ignore the girls that were taking pictures of his rarely seen smirk, the content one. Those girls were probably going to Photoshop those pictures later to add themselves beside the pleased Uchiha but he decided he could care less what they do with the pictures of him.

Dismissing them, he entered the study room and sat himself next to Naruto, who had his face buried into one of the novels Ms. Yuhi had assigned for them. This put a damper on Sasuke's mood and he started to brood a bit. Reading a book was not exactly the best way for two people to interact. It was and act that needed the reader's undivided attention. Attention Sasuke wasn't too keen on sharing.

He glared at the offending book that dare steal the focus of blue eyes. The brooding teen was quickly growing impatient with the silence and decided to deal with the situation with the fastest most effective way he knew possible. With flashing speed he snatched the book from Naruto's hands and threw to a waste basket like if he was playing basketball.

It was a three-pointer from where he was standing.

Sasuke didn't even feel the need to apologize for the papercuts on the blonde's fingers. All he said to excuse his action was, "Just browse for sparknotes, it's more practical."

"But isn't using sparknotes… cheating?" the blonde asked, slightly sucking on his injured fingers, his curiosity somehow overpowering his urge to smack the jackass sitting next to hm.

"It's called Sharingan." Sasuke said, explaining to Naruto that it was the new Hakuna Matata. It meant "copying from the best and making it your own". In theory Sasuke didn't regard it as cheating because Ms. Yuhi was giving them a reading comprehension test. Said test did nothing to test their ability to think and reason, it just served to see how many students could remember what they read in the book. So why read the book when sparknotes could tell them what happened with lesser words?

After that lecture, the dark haired teen grabbed the other books Naruto brought and opened them. "Let's see what you have here, dobe," he rummage through the books until finding one of his liking, "Let's start with this one. This assignment actually helps us develop and test our individual minds."

"Oh… okay," Naruto said unsurely, scratching the side of his whiskered face before noticing the hour. "Y'know, it's weird that Hinata is still not here."

"Oh, her?" Sasuke waved it off, "I saw her outside. She said she had to go home early. I'll help out instead and then later we can hit the skating ring. Sounds good?"

"Ne, I don't mind." The whiskered one responded in acceptance, though he would've liked it if at least Hinata would've said "good bye".

Two hours went by easily without any other interruption other than Sasuke having to take a trip to his locker for some of his own books. Again he had chosen to ignore the dozen of love letters that piled out every time he opened his locker. After deciding to call it a day, the two had gone their separate ways to put away their books and had decided to meet by Naruto's locker.

That's were Sasuke found himself currently standing, In front of the blonde's locker but no blonde insight. Seriously, a five year old could've followed that order so why couldn't his fifteen year old classmate do the same? Deciding he'll wait for the knucklehead for a maximum of five minutes, he let his left side of the brain take charge of his senses and the powerful thing known as imagination transported him to a planet of bliss.

This time that planet was called "Animal Planet".

He saw himself as a snake and his elder brother as a weasel. They had engaged in battle but there was no clear winner. Sasuke grew tired of it. Next he envisioned himself as a hawk and his elder brother into a fleet on ravens. But ravens were no match against the sharp claws and strong wings of a hawk. After counting fifty slaughtered ravens, Sasuke returned to the real world fully satisfied. But Naruto was still no where to be found.

"Where did that idiot disappeared to?" he thought aloud, now actively searching through Konoha's Halls. There were a bunch of seniors there but Sasuke had already expected that. The upperclassmen had to prepare for some last minute party they were throwing later that Friday. Approaching one of those guys, he asked, "Has any one of you guys seen Naruto around?" but he only received dumbfounded stares from the upperclassmen.

Running a hand through his dark hair, Sasuke tried a different approach. "Have you guys seen a stupid-faced blonde about my age?"

No response. The Uchiha approached another set of guys and phrased his question a little differently. "Have you seen Naruto around? He is a blonde haired idiot, dopey looking, about my height and age."

Again, the seniors were staring at him like if he was speaking Japanese or something. Sasuke was starting to get irritated. Sure, Naruto and was just a sophomore compared to these seniors but he was sure the whole school knew who Naruto was. He was Konoha's Number One Most Unpredictable Knuckleheaded Prankster for crying out loud. These seniors, Sasuke decided, were living under a rock.

But if the male population wasn't going to aid his quest then he had no other option than to use his most dreaded source of information. "…girls?" He was immediately swarmed by female seniors, all gushing over him with hearts on their eyes. "Have you girls seen Naruto?"

The mood of all the girls turned sour, they had all been hoping that Sasuke wanted to ask one of them out as his date for the party. Making irritated noises they left saying something about seeing Naruto around the school gates.

"Figures," the sophomore hissed, storming to that direction. It wasn't difficult to spot the only person he knew would wear so much orange but his mood turned fouler when he saw who was there with Naruto.

There was a tall man with a long ponytail in the back of his head. He wore a cloak buttoned at the centered of it, leaving the arm that didn't go down its sleeve hanging there. His most intimidating feature was the intensity of his eyes and those pronounced nose ridges under them. The eyes, Naruto noted, reminded him of Sasuke's dark eyes that somehow glowed red. Those dark eyes held a force that prevented Naruto from moving and so for the last ten minutes he had been rooted where he stood, hoping something would happen that would break him away from the gaze of the familiar stranger.

From the distance he heard Sasuke shout, "Itachi! What the fuck are you doing here?"

That did the trick. Naruto was now spared from the intense gaze of the guy who was apparently called "Itachi". The blonde also now remembered why this guy seemed so familiar. It was Sasuke's brother.

"Now now," Itachi responded calmly and condescendingly, "Is that anyway to greet a relative?"

"You didn't answer my question!" Sasuke retorted, reaching out to his classmate and shoving him behind him, away from his brother. "Why are you here? Itachi."

Itachi closed his eyes and shook his head slowly and disapprovingly at his younger brother before responding, "Fine, I'll answer. You weren't home so I thought I might find you here to say 'goodbye' personally." That picked Sasuke's interest so he continued, "The date for my presentation has been moved up to this Saturday. I'll be taking the next airplane later today and our parents will be leaving too on Friday morning. I want them to witness my meeting with congressman Danzo."

Sasuke looked hurt the instant he asked, "Just our parents?" But he quickly recovered himself and asked sternly, "How come I'm not going?"

The elder brother sighed and motioned Sasuke closer, as if to tell him a secret. He then pressed to fingers against the forehead of the youngest and flicked him back. "Foolish little brother. I wouldn't want you to miss a day of class. How will you ever catch up to me if you did?"

Sasuke coiled his fingers inwards into a fist but Itachi pressed on regardless. "Madara will be here on Thursday to babysit you in the mean time."

"I don't need a damn babysitter!" the youngest Uchiha reproached, tugging Naruto by one of his sleeves before claiming, "we're leaving" in a tone that threatened to impart hell on whoever said otherwise. But he didn't get far before Itachi inquired, "You're Naruto, aren't you?"

Sasuke tugged Naruto away before he had a chance to answer. No way was he going to let Itachi remember who Naruto was. It has been almost seven years since Itachi had met with one of Sasuke's friends and Sasuke preferred it stayed that way.

**-x-x-(At the Ice Skating Park)-x-x-**

Naruto had fallen for the fourth time in under a minute. Every time he tried to get up his feet he would slip on the ice and he'll fall on his ass. It was getting repetitive way too soon for his enjoyment and way too painful for his health. He had only agreed to ice skating because Sasuke said it was a sport he hadn't tried yet. Meaning that he would be at the same level of experience Naruto was. Naruto wasn't going to pass up a chance to perform better than Sasuke at their first attempt at something new. Except so far Naruto was the only one attempting to skate.

Sasuke was tightly grabbing hold of the cushioned wall that prevented people from seriously crashing against them. Sasuke's legs were shaking, struggling to maintain themselves from slipping.

Naruto didn't miss his chance to tease his friend about it. "What's the matter? Afraid of getting hurt? Scaredy Cat!"

"Shut it, dumbass!" the Uchiha retorted, letting go slightly of the cushioned walls, "I'm just more cautious than you, that's all."

As Naruto managed to get up, Sasuke fully let go of the wall, spreading his arms wide to his sides hoping it'll let him maintain his balance. After managing to stand still for one minute without falling, he looked around to make sure nobody was seeing him struggle. What he saw he did not enjoy. There were a multitude of people he recognized from school. He didn't remember the name of any of them but he found it odd that they all had somehow ended in the same place.

That's when his inner fangirl alarm went haywire on him. Ino and Sakura were close by, he knew it. It would also help explain why there were so many of his classmates here. He knew Ino and Sakura liked to pull their stunts where they could be seen by the most people. That still didn't explain how either one of those two girls learned he was going to be here. Because he, in true Uchiha fashion, already assumed he was the reason Sakura and Ino were close by. Unless…

"Naruto, did you tell anyone we were coming here?"

"Eh… just Ino. Why?"

"Ino!" Sasuke hissed, almost biting his tongue in the process, "You stupid shit! You might as well broadcast it over the intercom! How stupid can you get? You should know better than tell these kinds of things to someone like her!"

"Hey!" Naruto shouted back, "Why the fuck are you yelling at me for? And what's your problem with Ino anyways? She's my friend and I'll tell her anything I want!"

"Friend?" Sasuke asked. Even pronouncing it sounded wrong on his tongue. It tasted vile. He was about to knock some sense into the idiot in front of him but two loud squeals of "Sasuke-kun!" prevented him from doing so. The unannounced squeals made Naruto jump forward in fright from getting caught off guard. Sasuke, who was already prepared for the squeals and hence not surprised by it in the least, quickly moved to catch Naruto before he injured himself. Probably not his best moment of good judgment because in the process of it the Uchiha had somehow neglected that he could barely keep himself from falling.

Some gasped, some blushed and the majority just stared blankly. Not knowing what emotion to portray. Sakura had clenched her hands into fists that promised a beating.

Naruto pressed his hands against the layer of ice and lifted his head. The wet 'smack' of two pair of lips separating was heard by everyone who had remained silent as they watched the scene unfold. The blonde stared wide-eyed at the boy beneath him who was also wide-eyed. Both shuddered in disgust.

Those two had accidentally kissed each other and it hadn't been just any small kiss. It was each others' first one. The kiss both Ino and Sakura wanted to take from Sasuke.

"NA-RU-TO!" Sakura said, "Give me one good reason to not pummel you right now."

Naruto laughed nervously. "Oops" was his one word answer.

Sakura also had a one word answer for him, and it came with a fist to his jaw that sent him flying to the other side of the skating ring. "CHAAAA!"

The whiskered teen had just gotten beaten by a girl in public again but as he tried to get up to inspect the damage he received he got a call from a familiar number. Pulling out his phone he said, "Hello? Oh, hi Neji! Me? I'm skating with Sasuke, why?" Some rating from the other end of the phone line ensued before Naruto spoke again.

"How should I know why Hinata was crying? She's locked in her room? Well I don't know. I haven't seen her since classes ended. She came crying from school? Hey, don't get mad at me! I'm telling you I haven't seen her since the last bell rang. Well yeah, we were supposed to study together but Sasuke said she had to leave earlier than expected. I'm not making this up, I'm just telling you what Sasuke told me. What do you mean she didn't have to leave early? Sasuke wouldn't lie… would he?"

"…"

"Would he?"

_-__**x-x-x- (Chapter Ten: "To Perceive and Deceive") -x-x-x-**_

**A/N:** _Woot! I'm glad I had a chance to add scenes with Jiraiya and Anko "Sex on legs" Mitarashi. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for the next one because it's going to be a big one. The minds of Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, Sakura and even Shikamaru's are about to get disrupted, and Neji, Hinata and even Hana will aid Ino's scheme however unintentional their aid may be. Just to tease, the next chapter shall be called, "Somehow I can't become honest", and yeah it's an Ino chapter. Later!_


	11. Somehow I can't become honest

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _NARUTO_, its franchise or anything related to it. The only thing I have with Naruto's name on it is the "Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2" DS game I bought some time ago. I couldn't pass up the chance to use Gaara on a RPG game. I make no profit out of any of this.

**A/N:** Stop right there, open a second window and go to my profile. In there you'll find a link that will lead you to a fanart _Sodapops_ did about the Sasuke vs Hinata scene in chapter ten. It had me laughing so go there, comment on it and +fav it. Thanks!

**On a Side-Note:** YES! HELL YEAH! *hugs manga chapter 458* I don't want to antagonize SasuNaru but TAKE THAT! Naruto is straight and he LOVES Sakura because he is THE MAN. Even clueless Sai was able to see it. *does a happy dance* *waves hands to the air* *does the moonwalk* *strikes a victory pose* HELL YEAH! I feel bad about Hinata though.

_**-x-x-x- (I just have to look good I don't need to be clear) -x-x-x-**_

_**(^_^)(T_T)(^_^)(T_T) (^_^)(T_T)(^_^)(T_T) (^_^)(T_T)**_

"Why do I have to go there anyways? You'll just ignore me." Shikamaru asked. He knew he wasn't going to change her mind but he would at least get some answers.

"That's exactly why it has to be you!" Ino answered, grabbing both of his hands, "You're not unfortunate looking, which makes me look good. Also people will know we'll just be going as friends, that way Sasuke-kun won't get the wrong idea and he'll know that I'm still available."

"Then why not ask him? Why ask me?"

"Because I know Sasuke-kun won't want to go to that party anyways."

"It's always Sasuke with you girls. What's so special about him anyways?"

"Take that back! Sasuke is the coolest! And I'm the coolest too, it just makes sense."

"_What a drag,"_ Shikamaru thought, looking away from Ino, _"I just say one little thing about Sasuke and she gives me the evil eye._"

" C'mon Shika, I'm in a hurry. I still have other people to lure out."

"Lure out? Ino, what are you getting yourself into and who are those other people?"

"Aww, Shika," She said giving him a small hug, "It's so nice for you to worry about me but don't worry," she smiled, "I won't get hurt."

Shikamaru gave her a deadpanned stare. It wasn't her he was worrying about and he knew she knew that. "Troublesome Ino"

_**(^_^)(T_T)(^_^)(T_T) (^_^)(T_T)(^_^)(T_T) (^_^)(T_T)**_

**Chapter Eleven: "Somehow I can't become honest" (Oh well)**

_**-x-x-Wednesday Morning 6:20AM-x-x-Today the students had their Blue Day schedule-x-x**_

It was early. The Sun was just barely beginning to rise when the gates of Konoha High opened for those early rising students. The majority of those students always came early either because they needed to copy off the paper sheets of another student who had actually done his/her homework or because their parents dropped them off early on account of work schedules.

That was not the case for two certain students, one a junior and the other a sophomore.

The sophomore was slouched against the outside wall at the right side of the opened gate. He wore dark jeans, a white buttoned up shirt opened to reveal his broad torso, a long black coat that adjusted loosely to his frame and a long black bandana around his head, making him look like a punk who was looking for a fight. He ran a hand through the chunky spikes of his golden hair because it was starting to itch a little. Maybe he should've taken that morning bath. Still, he had to admit that even his smell served to make him look tough. His name was Naruto Uzumaki.

Right beside the tall standing blond sat the junior alumni, with his back straight against the wall and his long legs spread across the sidewalk. He wore tight jeans that were just a little loose around his hips, revealing to the onlooker that he was not wearing any underwear. He also wore a small black t-shirt that rode up his defined stomach every time his framed pecs would breathe, which was all the time. His jet black hair, combined with the dark colors he was wearing, made his white skin look almost translucent. He had a small smile on his face as he drew on his sketch book. He referred himself as Sai.

It didn't really bother Naruto that the guy beside him left little to the imagination with how he was dressed. It didn't bother Naruto that the guy was sitting just five millimeters away from him. Naruto could deal with those things. What he couldn't deal with was the way the artist would poke his elbows against Naruto's legs with every swing of his pencil.

Running yet another hand through his golden hair (this time in a conscious effort to calm himself), Naruto turned to the guy that was sitting way too close for comfort.

"Do you mind?" Naruto asked but the painter didn't answer. He just kept sketching like if the delinquent looking blond hadn't spoken. "I was talking to you." Naruto said with a little more edge to his voice. Again, he was largely ignored by the painter who kept poking him with his elbow. Naruto was poked again once… twice… but by the third time he kicked the elbow away. "Stop poking me already!" he shouted.

That got the attention of the pale artist who rubbed his injured appendage before moving his gaze to meet with the deepest blue he has ever seen. "Is there a problem?" he asked politely.

"Yeah, you!" Naruto retorted, pointing at the distance between them, "why are you sitting this close to me?"

Sai blinked twice at the question, not really understanding what was it he did to get the guy with the deep blue eyes so irked at him. Sai answered the question nonetheless as honestly as he could. "I always sit here at this hour." He informed before continuing with his sketch. As an afterthought he added, "It's you who is never here this early."

Naruto wanted to retort but he figured that the upperclassman did have a point. The blond was never here this early. The only reason he was here was because he wanted to talk to Sasuke face to face about what might had happened with Hinata. The short tempered sophomore didn't get a chance to talk to Sasuke yesterday because of Sakura and Ino. Naruto knew that Neji was angry about the incident and that he demanded names. But Naruto didn't want Sasuke to take the heat without even being certain that his friend had something to with Hinata's reason for crying.

The thing was that Naruto didn't exactly know at what hour did Sasuke usually arrived. All he knew was that Sasuke was always there before him. That's why Naruto had arrived so early today. Sure he didn't have time to bathe but it didn't really bother him that much.

Yet going back to the blond's current situation…

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, rudely pointing an accusing finger to the junior. Sure, Sai had a point when he said Naruto was earlier than usual but that still didn't explain the painter's needless invasion of personal space. "That doesn't excuse you from sitting so darn near."

Again, Naruto got no response from the upperclassman. _"Maybe he's deaf or something."_ He thought, sighing as he let his weight fall so that he was seated next to the painter. But with a little more distance between them. He tried to not be so hot-heated this time when addressing the junior. "Hey mister, I'm talking to you." the underclassman said softly, still getting no response from the other.

Naruto slouched forward to inspect the face of the other but Sai didn't even bother to send a curious glance Naruto's way. _"Maybe he's mad at me."_ The younger one pondered. He really wasn't the type who enjoyed being silent, and since the other had already spoken once, Naruto wanted him to speak again.

Folding his hands behind his golden hair, he tried to start conversation again. "Look, sorry 'bout kicking you and stuff but you just kept poking me, I mean, it must've bothered you too, right?"

Sai didn't answer at first but then he perceived how the deep blue eyes were focusing expectantly on him. He responded out of courtesy. "No, it doesn't bother me," he answered, "or to be more precise, it doesn't affect me whether you are there or not."

Naruto felt his jaw slackened when he received that answer, "eh?" the blond eloquently asked furrowing his brows together, "What do you mean I don't affect you?"

Sai's blank face was then masked with a false, cheerful yet transparent smile when he answered. "I mean that I don't really think anything of you."

"…okay," Naruto said with awkwardness, moving a couple of inches away for the pale artist. Something about him was giving Naruto the creeps. So much for killing time with conversation, even Shikamaru's was more responsive and welcoming. And that was saying something because the Nara would probably fall asleep half way through the conversation.

Naruto was so bored now. He just wished the prick would arrive already. That's when destiny tried to be funny and two elegant feet stopped right in front of Naruto. The blond looked up to meet the person and internally groaned, wishing he had been more specific when he wished for a prick.

"Uzumaki," Neji said, "This is early for you."

Naruto had to look away for a moment because the damn Sun was rising just behind Neji, making him shine like some sort of Greek God, except something told Naruto that this God did not come to absolve him from his sins.

"Oh… um… heh heh, Hi Neji." Naruto said smiling, hoping it would be contagious.

"Don't you 'Hi Neji' me, Uzumaki. I assure you I am not in the mood for such a casual greeting". Neji said seething but still extending a hand to the younger one of the two to help the other stand up. Even when furious, Neji would never forget to be courteous.

Once Naruto was at eye level, Neji sanitized his hands with his always handy anti-bacterial gel before eye-balling the blond. "Even though you are unexpectedly early I suppose meeting you is not unfortunate." He said, now glancing at his surroundings, "You have ten seconds to tell me where to find the prick that made Hinata cry."

"About that," Naruto started, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "can you not confront Sasuke about this?"

The Hyuuga's eyes immediately landed back on Naruto. "Are my ears playing tricks on me or did you just asked me to pretend yesterday's events never happen?"

"It's not that, it's just that…"

"Your ten seconds are up and I must say I am highly disappointed in you, Uzumaki". Neji announced, this time eyeballing the blond slowly, just to let him know he was about to get scrutinized. "Were not you the one who claimed that you'll be able to attain your farfetched goal and with it earn the respect and acknowledgment of many?" he asked but there was humor on his voice. Almost as if he was telling a joke he did not believe himself.

"Yeah but—" Naruto tried to answer but Neji cut him short.

"It was a rhetorical question, Uzumaki." Neji informed matter-o-factly, moving to stand right in front of the sophomore. Naruto fought the urge to stand on his toes just to match Neji's towering height. "Now here is another rhetorical question. Is turning a blind eye to those who help you attain that goal the way you show gratitude?"

Again, before Naruto could even voice his thoughts, Neji continued with is monologue. "That might be so to you but I assure you that us Hyuuga won't feign to be blind."

"That's not what I'm saying!" Naruto shouted, trying to make his stance, "You told me Hinata was crying then if that is true then I'm gonna fix it but I wanna talk to Sasuke first and hear it from him."

Neji gritted his teeth at that. "Frankly" he said, running a hand through his long brown hair, "I don't know if I should be more disappointed in you for wanting to needlessly prolong the inevitable or maybe should I be disappointed in myself for actually starting to believe in your dream". The brunet had actually said that in a sad condescending tone before taking a breather to take the sight of the man in front of him. "Once a loser, always a loser, I suppose. It is your destiny after all".

This time it was not the name-calling what affected Naruto. It was what came before it. "You believed in me?"

"Believed as in the past tense, Uzumaki" Neji answered, shaking his head at himself, "No, calling you by name is not a privilege you are deserving of. Now out of my way, trash, you're a hindrance to my sight. You are beneath me"

This time it was Sai who spoke up. "What do you mean by beneath?" the pale artist asked curiously. The fact that he had the audacity to eavesdrop on Neji's conversation made the brunet whipped his head at the direction of the intruder. The fact that in said motion Neji's long hair whipped Naruto in the face was not considered an accident. Neji did not believe in accidents. He did, however, believe in sharing his irrefutable knowledge with his uneducated classmates.

"It means his kind is like the dirt beneath my feet," Neji answered, "abundant and meant to be walked on."

Neji then walked passed Naruto, purposely bumping his shoulder against the younger. "I will say this out of the little respect I had for you once," he said to Naruto in a voice that demanded his full attention. Anything less would be unsatisfactory. "If you expect me not to approach the Uchiha then you will do the same and not approach Hinata. Call it a trade if you must. But do not delude yourself into thinking anything you do will make a difference."

And to make matter worse the damn breeze decided to blow at that moment, making Neji's exit nothing short of grandiose looking.

The gracious bastard

Sai, for his part, didn't quite understand what had just transcended. He'll have to admit it was not the first time he had eyed Naruto. It was not hard to notice someone like the blond with the scars on his face. Nobody wore so much orange like him on a daily basis nor was as loud and unpredictable. Naruto was known for his continuous pranks and for how loud he got whenever somebody disrespected him. It was because of this that Sai always wondered about the size of Naruto's penis. The prankster was a person who thrived for the respect and recognition of others so "why?" Sai asked aloud. He couldn't comprehend what could've motivated Naruto to allow himself to be humiliated like that for the sake of Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto sighed loudly once Neji was gone. That hadn't gone exactly as he might have wanted but at least Neji would be off Sasuke's case for the time being. He glanced to his right and saw that the pale artist was still there, but instead of focusing on his sketch like he had been doing earlier this morning, his dull onyx eyes were focus on him.

"What'd you looking at?" Naruto asked with a little edge to his voice.

"What motivated you to defend Sasuke Uchiha like that? Were you ordered to do so?"

"…no…," Naruto answered with uncertainty since Sai looked genuinely curious about getting an answer, "It's just that I didn't want this happening to him."

"Really…," Sai said, pressing a fist lightly on his chin as he studied Naruto's answer, "So because of this Sasuke Uchiha you decided to buck up your ass and take the heat for him?"

"W-What?" Naruto stammered, slightly caught off guard by how vulgar Sai had phrased what he saw. The lid on Naruto's temper went off. "Say that again!" he threatened holding a fist to Sai's face.

Sai observed the fist. It was just as he thought earlier. When somebody insulted Naruto the blond would be quick to retaliate. But when Neji Hyuuga practically spat on Naruto, he didn't raise a fist to defend himself. Just for Sasuke Uchiha?

"I see," Sai replied while gathering up his art supplies, "I guess I have an opinion about you."

"Really?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious about what the other thought about him. Did Sai think he was heroic for standing up for Sasuke? Bad Ass? Cool?

Sai only closed his eyes and with a little smile responded, "I think you're a pussy."

_**-x-x-Thursday Morning 6:20AM-x-x-Today the students had their Red Day Schedule-x-x-**_

It was another early morning and Naruto stood to the right of the school gates, wearing nothing but some old jeans, a black t-shirt underneath his black and orange jacket with a red swirl on its left sleeve, and his long black bandana still tied around his head. Yesterday Sasuke had been absent so Naruto never got a chance to speak to him face to face. Today would be different, Naruto was sure of it.

Just like yesterday, Sai had arrived a minute after Naruto had and made a move to sit himself beside the blond. But unlike yesterday, Naruto was quick to sprint to the left side of the gate, away from the pale alumni. Naruto heatedly glanced to his right to see that Sai was sending him a little smile. A creepy little smile, Naruto decided. Just yesterday Naruto had left a black eye on the painter's right side. Nobody called him a "pussy" and got away with it.

Luckily Naruto punched him outside of the school gates and so did not get in trouble for it.

Sai was wearing something similar to the other day, except that this time he had a tight t-shirt of green pastel colors with 'Kiss Me' written in bold red letters.

"_No, thank you"_ Naruto thought, creasing his face into a scowl. He pocketed his hands in his jeans hoping he would look more intimidating as he closed his eyes to wait peacefully for Sasuke.

The smell of flowers invaded his senses.

Ino was casually walking into the gates when she noticed Naruto. She was quick to walk towards him since a matter of utter priority had to be discussed. "So, asked a girl out yet?"

"Not yet." Naruto shrugged innocently. In all truth he had forgotten about the dance.

"No kidding," Ino said to herself after taking one good look at the way he dressed. There were so many things wrong with it she actually obliged to its silent call of 'help'! A part of her felt enraged as she wondered why Sakura didn't ever do something about his wardrobe. Didn't she claim Naruto was just her friend? Ino for her part made sure Shikamaru and Chouji always looked their best so why couldn't her rival do the same for her supposed friends?

"_Just as always I have to fix forehead's mistakes"_ she thought bitterly.

She unzipped his jacket after deciding that having it zipped only made him look pudgy. Then she rolled the sleeves of said jacket until they were just beneath his elbows. That way the girls would appreciate his strong forearms. Plus it didn't hurt to show generous amounts of that sun-kissed skin of his. She grabbed his black t-shirt and pulled it out of his jeans. Quickly inspecting his jeans, she grabbed two fistfuls of it and tore it open in front of his knees. It didn't take much brute strength. She could easily tell that the jeans had seen better days.

If Naruto was about to complain, he was shushed when Ino placed her hands on his unruly hair and ruffled it angrily before combing his golden spikes with her fingers. She then confiscated his headband and wrapped it around her waist. That way she would make sure he didn't put it on when she wasn't looking.

"There," she said proud of her work, winking with approval, "Now you look badass".

She playfully slapped him before going inside the gates, looking over her shoulder to say demandingly, "You better have a date before lunch hour."

Naruto frowned because his headband was taken away from him but perked up nonetheless. He knew exactly who he wanted as his date for the dance. The girl would be beautiful, intelligent, somewhat short tempered, aggressive, strong, and she would have the biggest most kissable forehead he has ever seen. "Sakura-chan!"

"No, dobe, I'm Sasuke."

"Eh?" Naruto quickly came off his cloud when he noticed the smug smirk on his dark haired friend. The love-struck teen chuckled and apologized, "Sorry about that, it's just that I'm inviting Sakura-chan to the dance. You going?"

"No," Sasuke answered, "But anyways, dobe, I've never seen you up this early."

"Oh yeah!" Naruto said, jumping in front of Sasuke to grab his full attention, "Ne Sasuke… I just wanted to ask you something. On Tuesday, did you tell Hinata not to study with me?"

If Sasuke was caught off guard by the inquiry he didn't show it. "Not that I'm aware of," he said uncaringly, "I've never spoken to her." He said truthfully.

"You sure?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to the right, "Neji said she was crying and it happened when she was supposed to study with me, except she didn't study with me and you told me she had something else to do".

There was a pressing silence between them. A silence labeled 'The Awkward Silence'

"What are you accusing me of, dobe?"

"Did you or did you not sent Hinata away?"

The silence returned, now labeled 'The Awkward Silence 2: The Return'

"Why do you ask questions you already know the answers too?"

"Why would you do something like that? I don't get it."

"Hn," Sasuke let out while thoughtfully searching for an answer. It was true he wanted to get rid of the Hyuuga heiress as she was a nuisance to him but he guessed there were other ways to do so. It's just that glaring the girl away seemed like the fastest and easiest way to get rid of her. _"And it was"_ he thought with a smirk. _"But she actually went home crying?"_ Well that was to be expected from someone as weak as her. What she had, Sasuke decided, was a fairy tale dream. A false vision where she was the Jasmine to Naruto's Aladdin; The Fionna to Naruto's Shrek. Sasuke, on the other hand had a goal, an ambition he needed to make reality.

When his ambition met with her dream it was only natural Sasuke would overpower her. But still, why did he feel the need to scare her away? He only had one answer.

"I did it on a whim."

"You… sent her away because of a whim?"

'The Awkward Silence 3: The Trilogy'

"What does it matter to you anyways?" Sasuke asked uncaringly, stepping within the gates. He was going to say something more but then he felt the earth shaking. "Shit," He face-palmed himself. He could already tell that the instant he stepped inside Konoha High the silent alarms that only females could hear started ringing, warning the girls of his arrival. This was exactly the reason he was absent yesterday. He had hoped that with his absence he would give the girls enough time to find someone else to ask for as a date. Apparently that was not the case. He only had time to send a look that said "we'll talk later" to Naruto before he got swarmed by girls, all screaming, "Sasuke-kun! Wanna be my date for the party?"

"Hey!" Naruto shouted as the girls shoved him into the concrete, away from Sasuke. His bottom had taken a rough landing, courtesy of the Sasuke fangirls, and his conversation with the other had taken a back seat.

Taking a huge intake of breath, Naruto forced himself to glance at the direction were the painter was, and just as he had suspected, dull onyx eyes were focused on him. "What?" Naruto said, raising a fist, "Got something else to say?"

Sai glanced at the fist, then at the almost cannibalistic rampage the girls were having over the Uchiha, and lastly at deep blue eyes of the blond before answering with another small but no less creepy smile. "Women walked all over you. You really _are_ dickless."

POW!

Now Sai had matching black eyes.

_**-x-x-Thursday 6:55AM-x-x**_-

"Hola, Kiba," Ino said strutting her way like super models did on the catwalk: Hands on her hips, her bust jumping with each step, her hips swaying and her long legs always walking in a thin straight line towards him. She had the feline power of 'RAWR' on her side. She accommodated herself on his lap and told him, "I was looking for you." As she did so she rubbed herself against him. The red signals in Kiba's head shot up. He knew she wanted something. He didn't have sister for nothing. He was already aware of how some girls tried to use their physical arsenal to lure men into doing something they didn't want to do. Kiba had learned from personal experience because he has fallen one time too many to those tactics, seeing as his sister's friends did that to him all the time when he was thirteen of age.

"Cut to the chase," Kiba said, not once surrendering to her approaches.

"Funsucker," Ino said, sticking her tongue at him. "I was just playing." She said sitting next to him like if it was the most casual thing in the world. Which wasn't because the only two times she has ever sat next to him Naruto had always been around. Kiba shot her a look and Ino sighed at it. "It's just that I found out that Naruto wants to go to that formal dance." She revealed while pretending to examine her nails.

"And?" Kiba said, pretending to not be interested in the least but he really was.

"Well, you've seen where he lives." She said, not sugar-coating her words, "that place is a shit-hole and you seen how he dresses. I don't think he has an outfit for the dance, do you?"

"Uhh… not that I know of," Kiba answered not really knowing where this was heading.

"Yeah, poor whiskers," She said with a pout, "If I were a boy I would lend him some of my clothes but oh well. I wonder if there's any boy here Naruto's size".

"Well, there is Sasuke… but I doubt Naruto would ask him for something like that. It would feel like charity and it will hurt Naruto. And then there's…" _"Shit!" _Kiba just realized what Ino intended all along.

She smiled, clapping her hands together, "That's so sweet of you Kiba. You're such a great friend." She said cutely and kissed him on the cheek goodbye before he had a chance to say, "But I didn't agree!"

He cursed himself, that's what he got for underestimating Ino by believing that her flesh was her only weapon. He should've already known that the best weapons were always kept hidden, and underneath Ino's obvious sexual powers layed a very devious mind.

Pfft, but just because Ino brought the idea up didn't mean Kiba would follow through it. No way. Even if the idea benefited Naruto, Kiba would stand his ground.

Oh who was he kidding, he has never been one of much self control when it came to Naruto. But he will consult Shino first. There was no way he would just give into Ino's wishes blindingly.

_**-x-x-Thursday 8:55AM after Kakashi's Class-x-x-**_

Sakura was looking really deflated when she rested on her desk. She knew she had to go to Mrs. Ayame's Cooking Class but she just couldn't find the will in her to move. Just five minutes ago her date requests were denied by Sasuke. His words were, "I'm not going. Stop insisting. Not interested. Ask someone else for a change." _'But to ask someone else?' _Sakura didn't understand what Sasuke meant by that. If not him then who? There simply was no other.

"_**Why is Sasuke-kun being so damn difficult?"**_ Inner Sakura raged.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura was shot out of her reverie when she noticed the guy she had been ignoring all morning in favor fighting over Sasuke. There was Naruto, wearing the same thing he wore almost every day but somehow it looked different than before. For one he had never worn his jacket like that, unzipped and with his sleeves rolled up. His exposed flesh made her appreciated how strong those arms looked. And his legs, what originally made her focus on them were the openings the jeans had, but once she found herself staring she couldn't look away as those muscled legs made their way to her. She tried to look up from them only to be captivated by the way his package was framed on those jeans. _**"His what?"**_ Inner Sakura gave a mental kick to her tenant.

"_What the hell is wrong with me?"_ Sakura thought as she clutched the fabric above her heart, _"Was I just ogling Naruto?"_

"Hey Sakura-chan! You heard 'bout the dance?" he asked excitedly.

"Duh Naruto, who hasn't?"

"Well…" he said pointing at himself, "How 'bout going with this hot stuff?"

She was going to say "no" automatically but her other presence urged her to deliberate on it. The pros were that she would have a date with a guy that's obviously interested in her. A guy she could pound if he tried to get his hands on her, and she guessed it did feel nice to know she would be going with someone who actually asked her to the dance, not the other way around. Meaning she had the power to act all mighty while the other had to squirm in insecurity.

The cons, however, were that he was Naruto. He'd probably wear something embarrassing and she wouldn't want to be seen with him. He probably had two left feet and would step on her continuously. She was already planning to wear heels, and those things hurt a lot. She wasn't sure she could deal with the added pain of someone stepping on her. Like hell she was.

But Naruto would probably go out of his way to try to impress her. She gave him that much. But when it came down to what really mattered, which was pretty much herself, did she really want to be Naruto's date?

She had to be honest with herself. The answer was no.

"Fine, Naruto," she answered, "I'll go with you."

"Fine, I understand," Naruto said depressed, he really wanted to go with Sakura but she… she…, "What? Sakura-chan! Did you say yes?"

"Yeah Naruto," Sakura said waving it off like if it was nothing, "I said I'll go with you."

"Sakura-chan!" He scooped her up from her desk and twirled her around in the air before embracing her in a hug. "You won't regret it, I promise!"

"Sure, whatever. But we're going as friends, get it Naruto, friends." She said closing her eyes as she assured herself of her decision. The point of the "couple" themed dance was to be seen entering elegantly in the arms of another. Hence, she needed a guy for it to happen. She already heard the other girls say that Ino was going with Shikamaru so if Ino was going with a friend then Sakura didn't see the harm in also doing the same.

She opened her eyes to witness how Naruto was shaking. _"Whoa, I've never seen Naruto like this. He must be nervous. Well it's not everyday he gets to walk down an aisle with me. But this isn't like him. I guess I'll be the bigger person and cheer him up a bit."_

"_**I'm such a wonderful person!"**_ Inner Sakura said, and Sakura had to agree with her inner-self. She patted Naruto gently on the back and said, "Hey Naruto, don't get so down. I already know you don't know how to dance but…"

"Hey everybody!" Naruto shouted for everyone to hear, completely oblivious to what the pink haired girl was saying to him, "Sakura-chan is going to the dance with the great Naruto Uzumaki. In your faces, bastards!" The he pointed at random people and let out a pompous laugh.

Sakura deadpanned. _"He's too stupid to feel down."_

"_**This stupid jerk is going to get us is trouble for yelling that loud!"**_ Inner Sakura raged on.

"Hehehe," Naruto grinned, pointing at another random guy who was picking his books up, "Hey, douche, guess what? Sakura-chan is my date!"

"You idiot!" Sakura shouted, smacking him hard on his head with her history book, "We're just going as friends, don't get the wrong idea."

"Don't worry Sakura-chan, you don't have to feel embarrassed." Naruto said, surprising her by kissing her forehead. He had always wanted to do that. He then grinned and wiggled his yellow eyebrows at her, "So what if other girls get jealous because you bagged me as your date. You still have me to love you."

That did it.

"CHA!" Naruto was sent flying across the room by Sakura again, but even as he tumbled down along with a few chairs he couldn't stop laughing every second of it. Sakura had said "yes" to him. The world could end tomorrow and he would still die a happy man. He was as happy as he was that day when he was twelve. The day he decided that he would make Sakura his wife in the future.

Naruto left, probably to spread the news, and Sakura sighed in relief. What had she gotten herself into? She wondered.

It was at that time another sophomore decided to make her presence known by throwing a paper ball straight into Sakura's wide open forehead. It was Ami, and she was looking every bit the wannabe plastic that she was.

"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura," Ami teased, pulling a face of disgust as she said, "Naruto?" she shivered, "for real? As usual you can't make good decision without Ino making them for you."

"And as usual your breath reeks of ass and dicks," Sakura said back, grabbing her things. She never enjoyed being around Ami.

"Ouch, that hurts," Ami said with a roll of her eyes before spitting her usual venom. "But at least my date won't be dressing from a charity house. I respect myself at least that much"

Sakura stammered a little, she had already given thought of the possibility of Naruto embarrassing her. That's why she informed him they were going just as friends. But still… no, she couldn't show hesitation around Ami. "Well excuse me for agreeing to go with him," Sakura said, flipping her lustrous pink hair as she thought about a way to get out of the situation with her reputation intact. She got it. "Besides, as Naruto's friend I want to help him gain some popularity. I'm going with him as favor, nothing else."

"As a favor?" Ami said to herself, loving how fickle that statement sounded. She could use this.

_**-x-x-Thursday 10:05AM after Orochimaru's Class (For Naruto, Kiba and Shino and some others)-x-x-**_

Kiba was nervous, there was something he had to tell Naruto but he didn't know how to approach him about it. But Kiba wasn't a wimp! He was the man of his house. Fun loving, athletic, boisterous, sure he was tender with Akamaru, but he was a damn 'MACHO'. He wore the pants.

"Oi, Naruto!" Kiba said to call his attention, but when Naruto faced him Kiba did an 180 degrees turn to leave and escape but Shino grabbed him by the back of his shirt and threw him back to Naruto.

"You have to take responsibility for your actions." Shino informed him. Now Kiba was face to face with Naruto whose blue eyes were eyeing him curiously. Kiba turned to Shino and tried his best to pull the 'puppy eyes' look. He looked anything but cute. With a few curses under his breath he pumped his chest out and faced Naruto.

"So… Naruto," Kiba said but when his slit eyes locked with Naruto's blue orbs he lost his ability to speak.

Shino sighed. "Kiba means to say that the word got around and now everybody knows about what happened between Neji and you".

"Anyways," Kiba continued, "I asked Hinata 'bout it and she says it's not your fault but she won't tell me whose fault it is."

"Hinata is not the type of person who would point an accusing finger even if the person deserves it." Shino explained from behind the Inuzuka.

"So Shino and I went to Neji for some answers…"

"Liar," Shino interjected, "He told Neji to stop being such a prick and to apologize to you. Just not in those words. I was only there out of coincidence"

"Yeah, what he said. But thing is… it didn't exactly go well."

"Kiba ended up on the receiving end of a very brutal verbal smack down." Shino detailed.

Kiba sent Shino a very evil look that clearly said _"stop helping!"_ before facing Naruto again. "So as I was saying… we'll be seeing a lot of Neji more often."

Shino ignored Kiba's glare in its entirety. "What Kiba means to say is that because of his impulsive actions Neji has requested special permission to once again be able to eavesdrop on our classes. Because Konoha High does respect the cultures of the foreign, and because Neji has proven himself very capable of excelling on his classes even without attending them, this permission has been granted to him".

This time it was Naruto who spoke up for the first time in this conversation, "What foreign culture?"

This time Kiba said nothing, waiting for Shino to explain it. When Shino didn't Kiba figured that Shino finally didn't have a say in the matter. "Well I don't know much of it myself," Kiba confessed, "but Hinata is like the heiress of the Hyuuga family and apparently Neji is supposed to always protect her."

"More specifically," Shino said, making Kiba want to growl, "Even though Neji and Hinata share the same root, theirs roles stemmed from different branches. Hinata is regarded as a member of the main family, whereas Neji belongs to the branch. All members of the branch families are instructed since birth to protect and serve the main family. Because of the relatively insignificant difference in the ages of both Hinata and Neji, the latter was assign to watch over the former. Am I correct to assume you found it odd when you realized that Hinata and Neji lived in the same house even though they're cousins?"

"But," Naruto asked now genuinely curious about the Hyuugas, "If what you say is true then how come Neji stopped coming to class in the last few days?"

Both Shino and Kiba looked away not wanting to answer that particular question. The answer should've been obvious. Neji had stopped eavesdropping on Hinata's classes because he deemed Naruto, the boy Hinata liked, as trustworthy enough. Of course Naruto wasn't aware of Hinata's feelings but he figured that it was somehow his fault.

Being respected and recognize by others. That's what Naruto wanted, and he realized he had obtained that from the Hyuugas a day after he lost it. Because of something Sasuke apparently did. But Naruto wasn't worried about it. He was sure that once he got a chance to speak clearly with Sasuke all will be better in no time. Yet this also brought another revelation to Naruto that made him grin wholeheartedly. His blue eyes met once again with the uncommon slit eyes of Kiba.

Kiba took a step back, expecting Naruto to blow up on him and blame him for everything. He was surprised when Naruto only smiled and thanked him for standing up for him. "You're a real buddy." He said.

Shino, sensing 'a moment' was going to occur between Naruto and Kiba, decided it was his time to leave. And so he did.

"Well, you know me," Kiba said, scratching awkwardly the back of his head, "I'm what people call loyal." 'like a dog' was left unsaid.

With the Neji thing out of the way, now came the hard part. There was another thing the brunet wanted to tell Naruto and he cursed himself for allowing Ino to ingrain that idea into his mind. He knew it was like walking into a landmine, once he stepped on it the chances of moving on without getting blown were next to nothing. Naruto could take this in two very different ways. He would be angry at Kiba for even suggesting lending some clothes to him for the dance. Or he would be very depressed because he would think everybody thought he was a charity case. None of the different scenarios painted a positive picture but Kiba had to admit, and Naruto would too, that there were things he would just have to take as a man. Even if it wounded his pride a little.

"Um, so Naruto…"

"Naruto," Shino appeared behind the blond, catching both him and Kiba off-guard, "Kiba has something he wants to show you at his place. Could you come along after classes are over today?"

Naruto started at Kiba to confirm it was true, when he did, he eagerly accepted.

"Thanks pal," Kiba muttered to Shino. Sometimes it helped that Shino always rephrased what Kiba wanted to communicate.

_**-x-x-Thursday 11:15AM after Kurenai's Class but before Lunch Hour starts-x-x-**_

Ino made her way to her locker in search for her purse. It was already lunch hour and she needed caffeine on a stick or something. She was so sleepy she was about to keel over at any moment. She also had to ready herself for when Naruto walked in disappointed because he was rejected by Sakura. Then Ino could console him by telling him that he really didn't need a date to attend the party. Coming with a date was just a formality to make sure there were an even number of boys and girls there.

It was the perfect script. She had stayed all night planning how the events would turn out. She figured Naruto wouldn't be able to get a date, and she also knew that Kiba wasn't going with Hinata because Shino had asked the Hyuuga first. Meaning that there would be two lonely boys at the dance, both vulnerable to her ploys.

Still, pulling an all-nighter did nothing for her energy reserves. Of course, being who she was she put a perfectly poised front for everyone to see on the outside but in the inside she was battling her nerves to stay awake. All she really wanted right now was peace and quiet in the embrace of her queen size bed.

"Heheheh," she heard someone snicker, but she couldn't pinpoint from where. It turned out she didn't have to search much because when she opened her locker the perpetrator came jumping out of it shouting "Surprise!"

Ino fell on her behind and looked up to see a wide grin on her fellow blonde's face as he said, "Whoa, I didn't think you'd get _that_ easily scared." There was a mischievous glint in his eyes, he liked her reaction and was already thinking of all the possibilities and pranks he could pull on her.

She felt the need to back up a little and warn him otherwise, "Don't even think about it, whiskers. Pull another stunt like that and it'll be war!"

"Yeah, sure," Naruto said, taking a seat on the floor next to her, obviously not the least concerned about her threat. She felt the need to pout at that, he was so comfortable around her he didn't believe she could pull a fast one on him. She briefly wondered how he got into her locker but he chose to speak up before she had a chance to ask.

"Hey Ino, guess what?" he said in a soft voice, his eyes glazing over as he thought of a happy memory. He gave her a brilliant smile and she felt the need to cover her eyes. He was shining like the sun, happy and warm. _"Just why the heck is he so sunny anyways?"_ Ino thought upset with his radiance. According to the way she had schemed everything, Naruto should be sulking about now. His loudness was the last thing her sleep deprived self needed right now.

"Guess what." He said, grinning happily. She wanted that grin off.

"What?" she droned, "A girl actually said yes?" she said mockingly, hoping it would make him go into the depressed state she had envisioned for him. When he nodded yes she felt her mouth open in disbelieve. "A girl actually agreed?" She was surprised, but not really impressed. So Naruto had a date, it still didn't ruin her plans for him. After all, all she needed for her plan to work was to make sure that Sakura rejected Naruto in front of everyone at the dance while Ino strategically positioned Kiba next to Naruto for her plan to commence. "That's fine," Ino said, thinking she might as well learn who the nameless girl was. "So, who is she?"

"Sakura-chan!"

"WHAT?" She felt like a ton of bricks had just descended on her. She couldn't believe it! She refused to believe it! How the heck did that happened? That wasn't going along with her script. Not at all. Sakura was supposed to say no. _"That ugly forehead of hers is trying to sabotage me!"_ Ino's plans wouldn't come to fruition if Sakura behaved nicely around Naruto. Of all times Sakura could've chosen to be nice to Naruto, that two-faced bitch had to choose _now_?

"Hey, Ino," Naruto said, noticing the creepy look on Ino face, "You're okay with me going with Sakura, right?"

"_NOOOO!" _she inwardly screamed.

"Yeah, I guess," She lied through her teeth, an ability all popular girls had. It was actually quite sickening how easily she could fake what she was feeling. She then noticed the super happy grin on his face. "Seesh, you're really excited about this one. God, that's the biggest shit-eating grin I've seen on you so far"

"Hey! You got a problem with the way I smile?"

"Relax, whiskers, it was a compliment, seesh."

"Alright!" Naruto shouted happily, waving Ino goodbye before making stops to every ear that would hear him out. He had to tell everyone Sakura was going with him, he couldn't contain himself. Naruto jogged away happily.

Ino sighed at his behavior, admitting to herself that Sakura had her hands full with that guy, that's for sure.

But that really put a damper on her mood. Now what was she going to do with her scheme?

She needed caffeine to think, she decided, making her rounds to the cafeteria when she heard some girls giggling over Naruto's name. That got her attention.

"Hey girls," Ino said, trying to sound ditzy to communicate with these girls, "What's the FYI?"

"OMG Ino, have you heard?" the girls responded through their giggle feat, "Naruto's going around school all cheerful and stuff because he believes Sakura was actually serious about dating him."

"Huh?" now that bit of info really got Ino's attention, "Sakura isn't going with him to the dance?"

"Oh she is," the girls giggled some more, "but it's a pity date, only that Naruto doesn't know it. It's kinda cute actually how he thinks it is. We heard it from Ami."

"_That's horrible,"_ Ino thought, and still the girls were on Sakura's side. Well it did make sense. People always sided with the more popular one. _"But damn,"_ Ino thought again, remembering the shit-eating grin on Naruto's face. She almost felt pity but then she quickly remembered that was exactly what she wanted. To make it seemed like Naruto was suffering because of Sakura. She rubbed her hands together as she conjured up what the next phase of her plan should be.

Sure, Ino knew that if the rumors came from Ami's mouth then it must've been a lie. Ami probably just twisted Sakura's words or something. But Ino wasn't going to stop those rumors, oh no, far from it. She was going to help spread them.

"Thank you billboard-brow, you just made my life so much easier."

_**-x-x-Thursday 12:15PM before Iruka's Class-x-x-**_

The happiest blond was making his way to Iruka's class when a swift hand emerged from the janitor's closet and pulled him there. Before he could even say anything another swift hand covered his mouth and a "shhh" sound came from his capturer.

"S-Sasuke?" muffled the blond incredulously, even in the dark confines of the janitor's closet Naruto could still make out the out-lined shape of his capturer's chicken-butt hairstyle.

"Keep your voice down, dobe," the other responded, taking his hands off Naruto.

"What'd you doing?"

"Hiding," Sasuke answered, "these girls will be the end of me."

Naruto chuckled at Sasuke's situation. It was nice to see the down-side of being extremely popular, and he was glad Sasuke allowed him to see it. In front of everybody else Sasuke would just feign disinterest at his situation.

"Anyways" the Uchiha said calling to the other's attention. "I recognize that I might've overstepped my boundaries. I apologize for being so controlling of your time."

It took Naruto a moment to progress that his friend had actually apologized for causing trouble. And the Uchiha did it on his own account, without being forced by others. That earned the Uchiha a grin from the Uzumaki.

"Great!", Naruto said accepting Sasuke's apology at face-value. There wasn't a need to hold grudges between friends. "Now let's go find Hinata and Neji."

"The Hyuugas?" Sasuke said with a little reluctance on his side, "I have nothing to say to them."

Naruto squinted his eyes. "C'mon Sasuke, we need to apologize to them too."

"As if" the Uchiha scoffed at the suggestion, "Don't make decisions for the two of us."

"But"

"You got your apology, be grateful for it and let it go. I'm not going to march up to them, hold their hands, and kumbaya if that's what you're expecting."

"Oh c'mon, its call sticking out for a friend," Naruto smiled, remembering the events from earlier. "Kiba did it for me."

"So what? Did that make you feel special?" asked Sasuke, already feeling like if he was going to lose his cool. The mention of that friend stealer's name, as Sasuke had already labeled Kiba, did nothing to lighten his mood. "I already apologized once to you so don't expect another one of those for at least ten more years."

"Fine, then I'll apologize for you."

"Don't you dare, dobe," he threatened, "There's no way I'm throwing an apology to those pretentious Hyuugas."

"Then here is my apology!" Naruto said, raising his voice in retaliation, "I'm sorry but I don't accept your apology! And until you agree to apologize with me to both Neji and Hinata I'm not going to talk to you anymore!" Naruto crossed his arms, end of statement. "Find me when you stop being such a bastard!"

"You can't be serious!" Sasuke shouted as Naruto abandoned the janitor's closet. The Uchiha face-palmed himself. _"Of course he is serious"_ he thought gritting his teeth in annoyance, _"once that idiot gets something inside that thick skull of his it's pretty difficult to change his mind"._ Sasuke couldn't believe Naruto would pull an ultimatum on him. But the blond wasn't known as unpredictable for nothing. But if Naruto wanted to play it like that then so be it. He was sure Naruto would come around first because one thing was for sure. Hell will freeze before an Uchiha ever apologizes to a Hyuuga, especially to a girl that couldn't even speak up for herself.

_**-x-x-Thursday 1: 25PM after Iruka's Class but before Asuma's (For Ino and some others)-x-x-**_

Ino was drowsily making her errands around the campus because the seniors had just requested all class representatives to inform their peers about the dance's tickets, dress codes and all of that stuff. All she wanted to do was go to sleep and take her long deserved beauty sleep. Between her scheming, rumor spreading, school work and blackmailing, she was already worn out. But because the seniors have given her this last minute assignment, resting was not an option.

Something like this was categorized as 'school activities', meaning that the perfect time to inform her classmates of everything dance-related would be at their homeroom hour. But their next homeroom would be on Friday morning, the day of the dance. She couldn't afford to be so irresponsible as to inform her peers of this the same day of the dance. Especially when she needed to make sure a large sum of people attended it to witness her stunt.

Damn the seniors for giving these last minute instructions so late in the day.

Ino, as could be expected from her, had already informed the majority of her peers yet there was one she was in no rush to approach. She saw _him_ standing by a bulleting board. The people around him making sure they didn't accidentally bump into him.

His name was Gaara

She pitied whoever thought that being class president was all fun and games, because in reality it was life or death. And she was sure Gaara was that death. But the red headed psychopath was in her class so she was obligated to inform him of the dance. But who would be dumb enough to approach _that!_? Certainly not her, she assured herself.

Everything about Gaara conveyed the same message. "Mess with me and I'll fuck you up." except she was sure that the 'fuck' didn't mean 'sex'.

What she needed was an escape goat. She needed someone who would take the fall for her. That's when she saw green colors, a shiny bowl cut hairstyle, and unflattering eyebrows. Her escape! It made sense in a way. The only one who could tackle the embodiment of the certain death (Gaara) was the embodiment of Youthful Life itself, Lee.

She patted him on his right shoulder.

"Yosh!" Lee said loudly, "What is wrong? Fair lady who is the class president of Naruto!"

"The name is Ino," she informed doing her best to smile flirtatiously, "have you heard about the dance?"

"Yosh! Tenten informed me."

"Good because there is this person that hasn't been informed yet but I just don't know how to approach him. He his a tad," she searched for the word, "un-youthful"

Lee's eyes widen to the size of saucers. "Do not fret, girl who is second to Sakura's beauty!" he said taking his 'nice guy' pose, "just tell me who this person is and I'll inform him myself."

She felt like crippling him for comparing her to Sakura but she held her own. Killing him would be counter productive to her plans so she settled to pointing at the direction of the homicidal redhead.

"Yosh! Gaara of the Funk!" Lee said bolting to Gaara's side, earning his attention. "It has passed quite some time since we last spoken." The nice guy informed, stopping to recall when was the last time they had exchanged words. "I believe it was after you defeated me at Dance Dance Revolution. And even though I lost to you and you harmed my beautiful Sakura I hold no grudge against you. Ever since you have entered this school you have reformed your evil ways and have not caused harm to others. That deed is indeed admirable!"

Lee closed his eyes and nodded to himself three times, but the third nod was a millisecond slower than his first two nods. So to make up for his mistake, he nodded thirty more times with a speed that made the onlookers fear his head might just pop off. Once Lee was pleased with his nods, he opened his eyes and continued speaking loudly.

"I am here to inform you of the dance tomorrow! It will be a most youthful gathering and it will give us the opportunity to…"

Lee never got to finish that sentence. In the time it had taken him to nod thirty times, Gaara had hovered measured fingers on one of the pressure spots on Lee's neck. When the loud student starting speaking again, Gaara pressed his fingers there and when he released them the loudmouth fell limp on the floor.

The students who just witnessed what happened were soon to escape, afraid that Gaara might do the same to them.

"Finally some quiet," Gaara grumbled, massaging the temples in his head. Now with the silence he could actually hear himself think. And now he found himself curious about this dance. _"Will there be funk in there?"_ He needed to know, but who should he ask? One thing was for sure, he wasn't going to wake the guy with the bowl haircut. Gaara could only tolerate his youthful shitload to some small extent. He'll have to ask someone of authority.

He closed his eyes to recall the name of the pony-tailed girl who showed him around the school premises on his first day.

"Ino Yamanaka. Yes… I'll ask her".

Somewhere not too far away, Ino felt a chill running down her spine.

_**-x-x-Thursday 3:14PM at Kiba's House-x-x-**_

Kiba had been worried about how Naruto would react when he learned the real reason Kiba wanted him to come over. He should have known he had nothing to worry about. All Naruto said was, "great, I want something orange!" and then the unpredictable blond walked into Kiba's house like if he owned the place or something. He even went as far as opening the fridge without permission. Kiba playfully scolded Naruto for that, saying, "you don't go into other people houses and open their fridges. Have some manners!"

Naruto excused himself sheepishly but not really meaning it as he searched the rooms for Akamaru, again without any permission to go into the rooms. The brunet had to stifle a laugh at how easily the blond had made himself at home. What Kiba didn't know was that this was the first time Naruto has been permitted to a friend's house. Sasuke never wanted to invite him on account of his parents and Sakura's parents had a 'no boys in the house' policy. Sure, Naruto went to Hinata's house once but that ended pretty badly.

So in reality Naruto wasn't aware of what his behavior should be in other people's houses. He just treaded the place like he would do at his apartment.

"Hey, where's Akamaru?" Naruto asked and got Kiba curious too. The dog owner looked around but didn't see Akamaru either. He went to the kitchen and saw his sister Hana still drinking her three in the afternoon coffee.

"Oi, Sis, where's Akamaru?"

She glanced his way and noticed the blond cutie beside her brother before answering, "Well since you weren't here I took him to the vet."

"You did what?" Kiba growled, "You know Akamaru hates going to the vet alone! If he needed attention why didn't you do it yourself?"

"Date tonight," she shrugged, "needed the day off"

Kiba didn't say anything else. He didn't have to. It was obvious he was pissed.

The dog loving teen marched up to his room, grabbed one of his pet's chewing toys and started pacing around angrily in circles. He was furious that his sister would do something like that to his Akamaru. What if his dog didn't want to go alone? What if they found something on his dog? Who would be there to tell Akamaru that everything would be alright? Certainly not the vets, they didn't understand Akamaru like Kiba did.

The angry brunet's march came to an abrupt halt when he felt two strong arms circling around his waist and a strong chest pressing itself to his back. Hot breath was on his ear and teeth were scraping their way from his earlobe to the upper part of his ear. "Naruto?" he asked breathlessly before he felt the full force of teeth clenching his flesh tightly.

"Yeeaaaaaoooouuuuch!" Kiba shrieked, jumping to the furthest corner of his room before turning to angrily ask Naruto, "Just what fuck was that for?"

"Dog trivia," Naruto said, grinning widely, "I read it on the internet. Bite a dog in the ear to calm him down."

Kiba deadpanned. He carefully made his way back to Naruto and placed his hands on the ear-biter's shoulders. He then spoke slowly to make sure the blond understood him. "Naaaruuutooo... I'm not a dog. You know that, right?" he asked unsurely.

"Pfft," Naruto said crossing his arms to defend himself, "Well it worked, didn't it?" He said, grinning proudly at his achievement.

"Cheeky little bastard" Kiba retorted, gently touching his bitten ear before a heavy blush took over him. _"Naruto just bit me,"_ he thought blushing harder, _"that's kinda kinky". _His face was beet red, the same color of his triangular tattoos. The fact that Naruto just licked his own lips didn't help cool down the heat in Kiba's body. The brunet knew he needed to do something before his body betrayed him even further.

He pointed to his walk-in closet and said, "Mom goes kinda overboard when she buys me these kind of stuff, even though I hardly wear it." he informed, "You're around my size so we should find something in there for you. How 'bout we impress Sakura, eh?"

The next few minutes were passed with Kiba rummaging through his suits and Naruto rejecting every one he saw.

"Ne… this is black. Don't you have something brighter like… ah… orange?"

"No, Naruto, formal suits are all dark."

"Figures" the blond complained, glaring at he suits he found boring.

"Oh don't look so down," Hana said, entering the walk-in closet and grabbing something she liked before explaining to her guest, "The suits are dark but the dress shirts don't have to be."

That made Naruto's eyes lit up.

Kiba gave a low growl with his throat before confronting his dog-stabbing-sister. "Why are you here, sis?"

"Thought I help out," she shrugged, picking out a bright orange dress shirt, some black shoes, some slacks and a necktie. "Here, there's a bathroom over there. Naruto, was it?" she asked and he nodded. "Well Naruto, take everything here and change."

"Okay," Naruto said, quickly disappearing into the room. Once he was well out of sight she automatically turned to Kiba who automatically looked away from her. They waited for a few moments of awkward silence before the eldest decided to break it.

"So…" Hana started knowingly, walking around her brother, "Whose idea was it to lend your friend some of your clothes. I know it wasn't yours."

"I might have been influenced," Kiba admitted, still looking away from her, "but I'm doing it because I want to"

"Thought so," she said, "but this is what I don't get. You're lending Naruto your priciest stuff. Your older stuff is in the trunk beside your bed so aren't you being a little too nice?"

Kiba was saved from answering when Naruto returned sloppily dressed. "I can't figure this out." the guest admitted.

"Seesh Naruto, let me fix it for you," Kiba said, unbuttoning the suit so that he could fix Naruto's tie. As he adjusted said necktie, his fingers lingered around the sun-kissed neck for quite some time. Hana noticed the odd behavior. Her brother's hands were usually only gentle when treating Akamaru. The brunet buttoned the suit again and took a good look at the man before him. "Looking good" he said, 'My Man' was left unsaid.

Naruto started to tug on the necktie, "Do I really have to wear this?"

"Yeah you do" the Inuzukas said simultaneously.

"But we could give you a clip on." Hana suggested. Naruto grinned, he liked the idea.

Hana elbowed her brother with satisfaction on her face. Kiba growled because he knew his sister was trying to be the better host. But their brother and sister banter came to a halt when they noticed that their guest was shamelessly checking himself out in the mirror. The blond grinned even more, "I like it but won't Sakura-chan have trouble undressing me like this?"

"Idiot!" Kiba snickered, smacking Naruto playfully in the head, "You better not have sex on my clothes you stupid fox."

The hit accompanied with the name-calling triggered a slumbering memory to awaken on the blond.

-_-_-**Brief Flashback**-_-_-

"_You know," Kiba wheezed out, trying to make conversation with the other, "calling me dog breath isn't really an insult."_

"_Really?" Naruto replied, turning his head sluggishly so he could see his friend, "how so?"_

"_Because dog's mouths are actually cleaner than humans'" Kiba answered with a know-it-all smirk on his face, "it's been scientifically proven."_

"_Wow, you really are good with dog trivia." Naruto commented as he sat up straight, staring at his friend in awe before developing a confident smirk of his own, "Well in that case, calling me fox boy isn't offensive either. Because when someone is a fox is because they are either sly or hot."_

"_Hm," Kiba offered in reply, sitting up straight as well but turning his face away from Naruto's, "then by default I guess that means I think you're hot."_

-_-_-**End of Brief Flashback**-_-_-

"Heh heh heh," Naruto started laughing nervously, backing away from Kiba, "T-Thanks for the outfit, you're the best b-but I have to go now, something important. Bye!"

Both Inuzuka's lifted a hand to hold the blond but Naruto was gone in a rush. They wanted to ask him if he needed a ride but figured Naruto must've known where he was going because of how fast he left.

"So…," Hana started, eyeing her brother curiously. "This dance… is the couple's dance, right?"

"Yeah, Naruto will go with Sakura."

"And you with Hinata, right?" she deduced.

"Eh…. No." Kiba revealed, "I was too slow and Shino asked her before me."

"That's a lie," she said giving him the 'I'm-your-big-sister-you-can't-pull-a-fast-one-on-me' look, "You're always fast and Hinata always goes with you to these kinds of things. And Shino wouldn't have asked Hinata out if he knew you wanted to go with her."

"_Damn"_ the brother thought, of course Hana would know how Shino behaved. Kiba has been inviting Shino over ever since they were both twelve.

The brunette let out a sigh before sending a serious look to her brother. "Am I right to assume you wanted to invite someone else?"

Kiba looked away, he didn't like were this was going. But Kiba not answering was all the answer Hana needed to ask her next question.

"Was that someone Naruto?"

Kiba again refused to look at her, but she could pick some light shaking on his part.

"Wow," Hana admitted, staring in mild shock at her usually wild and boisterous little brother, "I always pictured you with Hinata. I never thought you will turn out to be"

"I'm not!" Kiba shouted, this time meeting her eyes, "I'm not." He repeated.

Hana sighed, "But you like Naruto don't you?" He again didn't answer, "Kiba, Naruto is male. If you like him then…"

"Just don't tell mom," Kiba sighed, not admitting nor denying her claim. He knew she already figured him out. She was his sister and closest relative after all.

"Kiba…"

"If mom freaks out on me, I'll get scared" he admitted, taking a stance and speaking with all seriousness. "And if that happens I'll abandon this house just like dad did."

_**-x-x-Friday 2:35PM after classes were over for the day-x-x-Today students had their Green Day Schedule-x-x-**_

Sasuke hated today's schedule. For him it was the most physical demanding day of Kohoha High's five colors system. Konoha didn't assign classes to specific days like Mondays or Tuesdays, instead, it had a five day color system that went in the blue, red, green, orange and yellow cycles, meaning that if for some reason Green Day couldn't be taken on Friday, then Green Day would just roll off to Monday. That way no classes would be skipped on account of a holiday.

Today just happened to be the Green Day and hence Sasuke had to deal with Wood Ed (Yamato's Class) and Lab (Orochimaru's Class), both classes exhausting his hands. Then he had to deal with Maito Gai in P.E and _that_ was always extreme. The only physical relaxation Sasuke got today was at Kakashi's class, which opposed to the other colored days, on Green Day social studies was given after lunch period.

But the teachers weren't the only ones that had exhausted Sasuke. Neji had glared at him the whole day. _"Pretentious bastard, if he has something to tell why doesn't he just say it?"_

Sasuke for one was glad that the school week had ended, for him at least. He was growing tired of his peers lollygagging about how the dance was going to be '_**the dance**_' because it started up at seven and ended at two in the morning.

The Uchiha went to store his books and again did his best to ignore the perfume scented letters that piled out of his locker. He has considered burning them on more than one occasion but there was a law that prohibited him from causing fires indoors.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Ino coming out of the 'newspaper' club. That was odd because she didn't belong to that club. Not that he cared where she belonged.

But then Ino rushed pass Sasuke and entered the 'camera & film' club. That was also odd because not only did she not pay any attention to him but he was also sure she didn't belong to that club either. Not that it was any of his business but either way that clubroom happened to be in the direction he had to take to get off the school premises.

But just as he was leaving he distinctly heard Naruto's name. Of course, he heard people mentioning Naruto's name quite often but what caught his interest was the person who said it. He recognize that voice anywhere, it belong to the one girl who had been acting odd.

Ino Yamanaka.

He clenched his teeth, swallowed his pride and pressed his ear against the club door. _"The things I do for the dobe"_ he thought bitterly. That's when he heard it, or more specifically, that's when he heard her saying, "And that's when we set Naruto up. Make sure the lights are on him. Sure he'll be humiliated but he'll endure. Get Kiba in there too".

"I knew it!" Sasuke muttered through gritted teeth. He told Naruto Ino was bad news when they were skating but did he listen? No! Who listens to reason nowadays? Obviously not Naruto, Sasuke brooded.

The dark haired teen move away from the door and when he deemed his distance safe, he called Naruto via phone. Sure, they weren't exactly on speaking terms but this was an emergency. He needed to warn him that Ino was planning something. Sasuke wasn't sure what Ino had in mind but it definitely wouldn't bode well with him since it came at his friend's expense.

"Ne, Sasuke! Ready to apologize?" Naruto answered full of optimism.

"Fuck the apology!" was Sasuke's response, "This is more important. Ino is scheming something and I think Kiba is in cahoots with her."

"What?" Naruto asked enraged, "First Hinata, and now Ino and Kiba? You have something against my friends?"

"Friends? Dobe, open you eyes already!" Sasuke leered, "They are probably using you to get to me".

"And why would they do that?"

"Ino because she wants me and Kiba because he jealous of me or something."

"Later, Sasuke!" Naruto responded, hanging up. The Uchiha called him again but he blond didn't answer.

Sasuke felt the need to curse. "Damn his stubbornness". He should just let his friend get humiliated, that'll make him stop thinking so highly of himself. But the thing was Sasuke couldn't when he himself could do something to prevent it. Sure, Naruto has been humiliated a number of times, but that's been in front of his classmates. In the dance he would probably get humiliated in front of the whole school. That was like a whole different ball game of humiliation. He knew that Naruto more than anything wanted to be respected. Being humiliated in front of everybody would probably take its toll on the blond.

Sure, if that happened Sasuke would have the luxury to tell him, "I told you so," but did he really want to deal with a sulking blond?

"I have to prevent it somehow." The Uchiha told himself, "That way Naruto will see who his real friends are." But Sasuke wasn't going to make a scene and grovel for Naruto's attention nor get on his knees for forgiveness. It simply wasn't going to happen. Throw that idea out the window 'cause there was simply no way.

Drastic measures had to be taken to get Naruto's attention long enough for him to listen to reason. He won't allow Ino to toy with his best friend any longer. That's why he decided that the drastic measures he had to take had to be pink.

He dialed the number, readying himself for what he was about to do.

"Sakura, can we talk?"

He knew he was going to hate himself the next day.

_**-x-x-Friday 7:35PM at Naruto's apartment-x-x-**_

He was happy. He was dressed to impress. His black shoes were spotless and comfortable. His black slacks adjusted to his legs perfectly, even though they were a little loose, perfect for movement. He sat down on his bed and was happy that his slacks didn't go up to reveal his socks. His slacks were really the right size. He also loved the way the bright orange dress-shirt looked on him. Ino had come two hours earlier to make sure all of his clothes were ironed. He had complained about her intruding but now he was happy she did it. He looked good. He clipped on his black neck-tie and then put on his black suit. It was like if it was costumed made for him.

He checked his hair in the mirror for the third time that night. He had tried to mousse his hair back much like the way Mr. Hidan did his hair, but there were some blonde spikes that wouldn't let themselves be combed, particularly those at the front of his frontal hairline.

It wasn't often he wished for it, but sometimes he wished he didn't have six scars across his cheeks. For once in a lifetime he wanted to look perfect for Sakura. For him, she was always his independent princess. He wondered if at least once, just for tonight, she would take one look at him and think of him as her prince. There was little he wouldn't do to make her see him in that light.

He picked up his wallet, his phone and his car keys. With Jiraiya away on a trip, Naruto now had exclusive use of his car. He couldn't wait to pick up Sakura in it. So what if he didn't have his driver's license yet?

It was already 7:40, time to pick up his date. Speaking of his princess, he was receiving a call from her right now.

"Oh hi, Sakura-chan!" he said happily, "I'm gonna pick you up now, okay?"

He heard Sakura take a deep breath before she responded. "Yeah… Naruto… about that."

_**-x-x-Friday 7:55PM at Ino's house-x-x-**_

"Okay daddy, I'll behave," Ino said waving goodbye to her father because he had a late meeting at the office. The only reason Inoichi was going to the meeting at all was because one, Ino was wearing a very conservative outfit that showed no amount of flesh other than her face, neck and hands; And two, because it was Shikamaru the boy who was going to pick up his daughter. He trusted that kid to know Ino was off limits.

When Inoichi left, Ino grinned victoriously. She ran to her room and stripped herself from that outfit that made her look like a Nun, replacing it with a little black dress cut just the way she liked it.

Backless

She shook her sexy behind in front of her mirror. Yep, she was going to turn some heads with that outfit. Now all she needed to do was wait for her date to pick her up but not yet. She would call Shikamaru when the time was right. After all, she had to be fashionably late. She would call Chouji however, she had instructed him to be there early because she needed an update of everything that was going on there.

"Hetho DIhno" Chouji answered over the phone, and she could clearly tell he was talking with his mouth full.

"Hi Cho," she said nonetheless, "any commotion?"

She heard him swallow before he answered "Not much". She immediately heard him munching on something else.

"Is Kiba there?" she asked. Chouji answered something but she couldn't understand him. She felt then need to reprimand him. "Chouji! Stop eating while talking it's disgusting!"

"Fine!" she heard him say. Seconds later he cleared his thought to announce he had already swallowed his food.

"Cho, is Kiba there?"

"Yeah,"

"Is Naruto and Sakura there yet?"

"Nah.. no wait. I see Sakura but she's in the arms of Sasuke. I don't see Naruto anywhere".

"So Sakura is with Sasuke then?"

"I think so but it's weird though, because I thought Naruto was Sakura's date."

"Yeah, that is weird… wait a fucking minute, run by me what you said before that"

"Sakura is in Sasuke's arms?"

"WHAT?" she took a deep breath before pouring out her feelings. "SHIT!"

Ino couldn't put her mind around it. She felt like if Sakura had just pulled the rug from right under her. "That two-faced harpy!" she yelled. She needed to go over the info again.

"_Sasuke and Sakura together? At the dance? How the heck did that happened? Sasuke wasn't even supposed to attend the damn party!"_ she could feel her tears threatening to pour out. This could not be happening to her. Having Sasuke and Sakura as a couple was to Ino what kryptonite was to Superman. A completely unfair and shitastic disadvantage!

How the heck was Ino's popularity supposed to compete with the combined popularities of that duo? People weren't going to pay attention to her if those two were together. Sasuke was like an unattainable trophy, a gold medal. With him in Sakura's possession Ino didn't stand a chance. Sakura parading herself with Sasuke was a big no-no in Ino's book.

"Damn her!" she wailed, "She and her stupid ugly ass forehead were supposed to go with Naruto!"

Naruto!

She had forgotten about him. She quickly hung up on Chouji and called Naruto.

"Hey, whiskers! You there? How come you're not at the party yet? What the heck do you mean you're not going? Don't you dare hung up on me. Whiskers! Whiskers! Naruto! Damn!"

He hung up on her but she redialed and waited for him to pick up the phone again. He didn't. Then she sent him a text message and waited for three minutes for his reply. When she didn't receive any, she threw her phone against her door. Now she could feel her tears starting to pour out. Only one thought repeated itself in her mind. _"I lost to Sakura."_

She slowly made her way to her nightstand and pulled out her '_all things I have to do before the dance'_ list.

-_Make Shika take me to the dance?_ **Check!**

-_Trick Kiba into agreeing to lend some suits to Naruto? _**Check!**

-_Spend hours conniving and spreading rumors?_ **Check!**

-_Seduce the president of the 'camera & film' club into taking random pictures of Naruto, Sakura, Kiba and myself so that his club could Photoshop them to my liking? _**Check!**

-_Bribe Shiho, the president for the 'newspaper' club, with baby pictures of Shikamaru just so that Shiho would get her team to cover my version of what will transcend at the dance?_ **Check!**

-_Prepare a freaking Power Point Presentation where I could prove how Sakura's bullying ended up throwing Naruto into the arms of Kiba, fully utilizing the Photoshopped images of them together in compromising positions? _**Check!**

-_Make sure the seniors cooperate with the lights and the Power Point Presentation to make it seem like if I had nothing to do with it so that I could then jump in and 'rescue' Naruto and Kiba from the oppressive Sakura and the homophobes that would try to beat the boys up? _**Check!** That way Ino could even be featured in the local newspaper as a heroine.

-_Make Chouji go early to the dance to utilize him for spying purposes?_ **Check!**

-_Look incredibly fine in my little black dress?_ **Check!**

Everything on her freaking to do list was checked and done. So why didn't it work? After all that hard work, what did she have to show for it? Nothing! That's' what. Nothing!

"Why didn't anyone follow through with the script I prepared for them?" She asked to no one in particular. Sure, the others had no idea of the script she designed for them but to Ino, that still didn't excuse them for not following through with her whims.

"No!" Ino yelled resolutely, "Not this time, Sakura. You're not going to show me up in front of anyone ever again."

She decided she'll just have to do what all great showmen did when everything that could go wrong went wrong on stage. She'll throw caution out the window and improvise.

She went out of her house and spotted a taxi driver dropping the neighbors up. Excellent timing

_**-x-x-Friday 8:30PM at Naruto's apartment-x-x-**_

Knock! Knock! Boom! Boom! BOOM!

"Open up, whiskers!"

Naruto shot up from his bed. "I-Ino?" he asked, making his way to answer the loud banging at his door. When he opened it Ino threw herself in before slamming the door close herself and locking it. She pressed herself against said door and continued breathing sporadically. She looked like if she had just seen a ghost. Naruto has never seen Ino this scared before and he wondered if something was wrong. Once Ino recovered her breath, she locked eyes with Naruto and started yelling at him.

"What the fuck, whiskers, a prostitute came on to me down there. A PROSTITUTE! And she even looked younger than me!" She cried clearly upset by it, "Why the heck do you even live in this place?"

Her reaction made Naruto chuckle, even if it was a little. He was fully aware that there were lots of drug dealers and whore houses in the street he lived in. This was strangely enough the reason why he lived there. How else would Jiraiya be able to do research for his book otherwise? Both the drug dealers and the prostitutes, although they didn't exactly make an honest living, respected Jiraiya's craft and where one of his biggest fans. There was an unspoken law between them, promising that no matter the situation no one there would mess with Jiraiya and the boy he housed, Naruto.

"Don't worry," Naruto said, chuckling when Ino gave him an incredulous look, "They only come out at night time." He assured.

The female of the two sent a searing look at the male. She could see he was still well dressed even if he had taken his suit off.

"Okay, whiskers, give it to me straight. Why aren't you going to the dance?"

"Why does it matter," he answered, stepping into his room and letting his weight fall on his bed. Ino tried to ignore to the best of her capabilities the uncanny resemblance Naruto's pillow had to their social studies teacher, Mr. Kakashi Hatake. She had more pressing issues to deal with, like convincing Naruto to attend the dance.

"Whiskers," she pressed on, "does your staying have anything to do with Sakura being Sasuke's date?"

Blue eyes stared directly at her for only a split second but it was enough for her to see the hurt in them.

"Whiskers?"

"We were just going as friends," he muffled into his Kakashi-like pillow, "Sasuke asked her out and she accepted knowing I wouldn't mind." He buried his face deeper into his pillow, "because we're just that, friends."

"That's bullshit and you know it!" Ino yelled, ripping the Kakashi-like pillow away from him, "She isn't just a friend to you. You, I and everybody else can see that!" she was frustrated at how weak he seemed. This was not the hyperactive and always smiling idiot she had seen earlier today. "Why are you here?" she asked demandingly, "Go to where Sakura is and tell her that!"

"I can't!" Naruto shouted back but then looked away in shame, before whispering "I can't" again.

"Why?" she shouted, "Why can't you?"

"Because…" he trailed off, looking like if he wanted to tell her something but not knowing how to word it. For a moment, time seemed to stop before Naruto started laughing a little. He scratched the back of his head and sent Ino his usual stupid-happy grin, the goofy one, the one she hated seeing. The one that told her everything would be alright even when he clearly didn't believe so himself.

"So what if I like her?" he said smiling, "I'm not going to be selfish. She likes Sasuke… and I'm happy seeing her happy."

"Damn you!" she yelled slapping him hard across the face. And she slapped him again every time she threw the curse at him. "Damn you! Damn you! Damn you!"

"Stop!" he shouted, grabbing her hands and forcing her into his bed. He pinned her hands up and held her down. She glared at him but instead of seeing anger in his face like she expected to see, she saw hurt and confusion. She sighed loudly, no longer trying to hit him. "Damn it whiskers, why are your facial expressions so easy to read?"

He chuckled a little at how she always asked him about that. But that little chuckle reminded him of how his cheeks were burning because of Ino's abuse.

She sighed when she noticed him flinching and rolled her eyes. "Well, don't look like me like that. Sakura hits you all the time and you _still _love her."

"That's not fair," he answered, loosening his grip on her hands but not moving off her. He looked upset, but she could easily tell he was more upset with himself than with her.

"What's not fair?" she asked.

"That you're here trying to cheer me up." He answered softly, shaking his head at her. "Why?" he asked, "Why do you care? You don't even know me that well."

This was one of those few times were Ino had to stop, clear her mind, and remind herself that Naruto was more than some disposable pawn. He was a human being with emotions, dreams and insecurities of his own. If only his value as a pawn wasn't so high.

"Well Naruto," she answered, looking up at him, "to be fair, you don't know much about me either." She searched her mind for the most effective way to deal with this situation. The answer was to be as honest as she could be without giving her intentions away. She continued speaking.

"But that's what we've been doing lately, right? Getting to know each other!" she gently cupped his reddened cheeks with her manicured hands before continuing. "Do you know what I thought about you when I saw you fight with Gaara? Do you know what I thought of you when you got that **A** in social studies? I thought to myself, 'you know what? Whiskers never gives up and always comes back strong'."

She noticed that Naruto was no longer trying to avoid her gaze, quite the contrary, he was searching for it. He was hanging on her every word and she knew right then that her next choice of words would tighten the strings around that crest fallen boy, and she also knew that deep within her the remnants of her conscience was telling her not to do this.

But no one ever remained popular by being nice.

"Naruto," she called him by name, "I thought being president was your goal. Are you seriously going to miss this opportunity just because you had a set back?" She locked eyes with him, in order to deliver the blow. "Was I wrong about you?"

Slowly but surely he started to shake his head 'no', for that moment not trusting his ability to speak. She felt his hands on the small of her back, gently pulling her up to sit on his lap as he rested his head on her shoulder. Because of their closeness she could feel him shaking involuntarily. He spoke to her ear, "You're really nice." He said this more to himself than to her, "but I can't go anyways" he joked sadly, "Don't have a date to look cool with."

"_Nice"_

That was the word Naruto kept using for Ino. She shook her head at it but wrapped her arms around him to return the embrace, allowing him to nuzzle on her neck. There was no going back. "Don't worry whiskers," she whispered soothingly to his ears, "I'll fix that. After all, what are friends for?"

**-**_**The Premise: **__**To become popular you have to step on a few of your friends. Just make sure you don't step on your self**_**-**

_**-x-x-Friday 9:05PM at the Nara Residence-x-x-**_

So there was Shikamaru, giving himself one last look in the mirror before deciding that he frankly didn't care if he looked passable or not. Anytime now Ino would call him to tell him to pick her up. His mother was already downstairs with her camera and car keys in hand. Yoshino Nara got so excited when she learned that her son had gotten the balls to finally ask Ino to the dance. It was actually Ino who roped Shikamaru into going but Yoshino wasn't going to fret over the details. All Yoshino cared about was about the wedding bells she could hear in a not too far off future.

Shikamaru's phone rang. "Finally" he said before answering.

"So Ino is it time? What do you mean you're going with Naruto? How is that an emergency? But I'm already dressed up!"

She had already hung up on him.

"Perfect," he let out sarcastically, "Just perfect."

Here he was dressed to go to a dance he didn't want to assist in the first place, with the demon of his mother waiting for him to come down stairs so that they could pick up his date for the night. Except that Ino wasn't his date anymore and so he had no one to go with. Now just how was he going to tell this to his mom without her nagging him for getting dumped? The last thing he wanted to receive was relationship advice from his mom. And now that he thought about it, the suit he wore was also rented. His mother would surely throw a hissy-fit if he didn't put it to good use.

He pulled the covers off his bed and layed there. All of this was too tiring and frankly he didn't ask for any of it. "Dealing with women is too draining for my health. I don't know how dad does it." He told himself.

He pulled the covers on him and yawned. "Fuck it all. I need my sleep."

_**-x-x-x- (Chapter Eleven: "Somehow I can't become honest") -x-x-x-**_

**A/N:** Hell Yeah! I finished this character heavy chapter! I feel like if I should say another catch phrase or something. "Booyah?" *laughs* Anyways, as you could see, Ino has plans and Sasuke intends to spoil them. It's just that neither of them are doing it in a "nice" way. So the real question is "Team Ino" or "Team Sasuke", which one are you? SasuNaruSakuness or KibaNaruInoness? Oh and don't worry too much about Shikamaru *smiles* Temari is on the next chapter.

**EDIT:** Of course there is always "Team Hyuuga" (NejiNaruHinaness) Neji is like the strict older brother to them, isn't he?

**PRESS THIS BUTTON**


	12. Because I'm your friend

**Disclaimer:** If I'd owned _NARUTO_, shippuden Ino wouldn't have cried over Sasuke. C'mon, what pre-shippuden Ino had for Sasuke was a pre-adolescent crush. She was never really in love with him nor was she his friend. Kishimoto just messed up Ino's character because he wanted to, once again, make Shikamaru look important and level-headed. (Yes, I'm talking about chapter 459)

^ Also from this chapter on there will be mentions of Heaven & Earth (_**a.k.a**_ what the pairing of Naruto and Sakura was originally referred as before the "_**pairing wars**_" began and people started to call it NaruSaku). Said theme will be important in the future.

**A/N:** On a side note, last chapter's response was amazing. I have never received such a large amount of reviews before. Thanks you readers! Oh and guess what? Even more people did fan-arts of this little story. Check my profile for the links.

**WARNING:** Crude humor. Dry humping, grinding, hot and sweaty groping, tight and sticky flesh rubbing together, and tons of loud moaning and groaning.

**PS:** Get you minds out of the gutter, they are not having sex. *smiles* they are just dancing!

_**-x-x-x- (Why… why would you go so far for me?) -x-x-x- **_

**Chapter Twelve: "Because I'm your friend" **

It was a Friday night and there was a full moon. Anyone who was at least slightly superstitious would've known that was the first sign of an impending horror.

A shiny black car parked itself before the gates of Konoha High. It had taken the driver only _thirteen_ minutes to get there at the speed she went.

Thirteen, the unlucky number

The passenger door was kicked open and soon after a teenage male with a spiky ponytail was forcefully dropped off out of the four-wheeled drive. The teenager couldn't even begin to complain because the nagging voice of his mother had beaten him to the punch.

"Don't bother coming home if you don't have a girlfriend by midnight". She pronounced clearly, so that her son would know exactly where he stood with her. Yoshino Nara then pulled out with her black car and left her son to fend off on his own. And hopefully get himself a girl.

The young Nara sighed loudly. The last thing he wanted was another woman in his life. "How can dad deal with them is beyond me." But it wouldn't do him any good to just stand there alone and cold while he could be lounging off from the seniors' budget, besides, he had already paid for his ticket.

"To the dance it is," he sighed again, not an ounce of enthusiasm in him.

At the entrance he was stopped by two seniors, one asking him for his ticket and the other inquiring if he brought a date. Shikamaru handed his ticket and answered that he came alone. Once inside, he quickly spotted Chouji, who wasn't hard to find at all since Shikamaru had already figured that his tubby friend would be ogling the snack bar.

"Chouji," he greeted.

"Shikamaru," the other greeted back before helping himself to some Doritos, "Isn't Ino with you?"

"That girl…" he said tiredly as he thought of the girl who roped him into coming only to ditch him in a courtesy last minute phone call, consequently getting his mother all up in his business. It was not the fondest of his memories but definitely the freshest. "She said she was going with Naruto, something about an unbalanced popular hierarchy. She called it an emergency."

Chouji only nodded in response, while munching on some more chips.

"But you know," Shikamaru continued as he casually searched for familiar faces in the crowd, "I've been raking my brain over this but it doesn't make sense to me," he said as he spotted Shino, Hinata, Gaara, Zaku, Kin, Neji, Tenten, Karin and Lee. "I can't figure out why was it so important for her to go with Naruto. Wasn't he supposed to go with Saku…" he stopped. Something told him that he found his answer. He just needed to confirm it.

"Chouji," he said with all seriousness, "Is Sakura with Sasuke?"

"Oh that," the tubby one said casually as he eyed the pair from afar. Sasuke was leaning against a wall with his eyes trained on the entrance. He was wearing the classic formal attire. Black everything except for his dress shirt that was white. Sakura was wearing a tasteful red dress and chatting up all the other girls while securing both her arms around the Uchiha's right one. "I dunno… asked myself the same thing and when I told Ino she freaked out on me."

"Now it makes sense," the Nara observed, not amused, "So that's how it is. I guess now I can understand what she meant with 'unbalanced popular hierarchy'. With Sasuke and Sakura together, the spot light won't be on Ino."

"I guess," Chouji agreed uncertainly, "but that still doesn't explain Naruto."

"It's actually self-explanatory in a way," Shikamaru explained, "A team is only as strong as its weakest link. And in the case of Sasuke and Sakura…"

"Naruto affects them both." Chouji finished, feeling a little proud of himself for catching on to what his friend was implying. The theory behind the plan was pure genius, but then again, he had always known that Shikamaru and Ino were among the smartest people he had ever met, the former always being a strategist genius while the later made up for it by being somewhat conniving.

But with this line of thinking, another thought struck Chouji. "Do… do you think… you don't think something bad may happen to Naruto, right?"

Shikamaru groaned at that, resisting the urge to face-palm himself. "Ino and Naruto, troublesome and unpredictable." even putting those two in the same sentence gave him a headache. He could already envision a series of different scenarios and none of them were exactly pretty. For Naruto that was. Shikamaru could imagine Ino walking out of it unharmed and victorious like the oh so clever banshee that she was.

He made his decision then.

"We'll meddle if things get out of hand," he said, fixing himself a glass of juice. "Hopefully somebody spiked the punch," he mumbled expectantly, "I think I'll need to be drunk to survive this."

**-x-x-(Outside the dance)-x-x-**

If somebody had been watching this scene on their TV sets they would've been trying desperately to find the un-mute button because there was no other way to explain the immense silence. Naruto and Ino, both known for their unrivaled ability to run their mouths on and on and on, where seated next to each other, on Naruto's car, completely mute.

It's not that they didn't have anything to talk about; it was just that both of them were too busy dealing with their own inner turmoil.

For Naruto it was that he'll have to inevitably face Sasuke and Sakura, together. It'll be his best friend/rival and the woman of his dreams as a couple. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep the rage he felt in check if he saw them up close.

For Ino it was that uneasy feeling that she was overlooking something. Something important, so important that it should be obvious but for the life of her she could not figure out what it was.

Both blondes got off the car at the same time after Naruto parked it a little ways off from Konoha High. He didn't want to risk it getting keyed by his peers.

The time to make their appearance was just around the corner, but before that, Ino figured they needed to behave like if they were at least comfortable with each other. Their eerie silence wasn't going to score them any points among their peers. So how should she go about it?

"Polar bear," Naruto said, giving her a cheesy grin. Ino furrowed her thin eyebrows and Naruto only grinned wider. "It broke the ice."

It took her a moment to comprehend what he meant but after it she started laughing at his lame joke, "Damn it whiskers that was cheap."

"Ne, at least we're talking," he said pointing at the car, "I was starting to think my driving skills scared you or something."

"Nah, the ride was nice," she admitted, inspecting the four-wheeled drive, "But I didn't know you had a car."

"It's not mine," Naruto said as he locked it, "My live-in guardian owns it," he added, "I'm not old enough to drive."

"Neither am I," she confessed, a little put off because she hadn't noticed it earlier. She was only a couple of weeks older that him so if she couldn't drive, neither could he. But in the flip-side, the fact that Naruto had driven without a license only made him hot in her eyes. "God, whiskers, I didn't know you were such a bad boy."

"Yeah, let's go," he said cockily, crossing street but mid-stride his date pulled him in a headlock and dragged him to hide behind his car, telling him to remain quiet. As that happened, a blue car pulled up and from it came a bearded man and a red eyed lady, both in their thirties.

Asuma Saratobi and Kurenai Yuhi.

Ino pressed her index finger to her lips and told Naruto to be quiet because she sensed hot gossip. Both students caught Mr. Asuma and Ms. Kurenai holding each other lovingly, but that wasn't the hot gossip she sensed because she was already aware of their hidden relationship status. What caught her attention was the way Mr. Asuma kept rubbing circles on Mr. Kurenai's belly.

"_I bet she's pregnant," _the Yamanaka giggled, _"and they haven't even gone official yet."_ That was the best part of the gossip. The icing of the cake! She could already picture Ms. Kurenai revealing that she was pregnant and the entire faculty going like, "What the fuck does is even have a father?!"

When Naruto saw his teachers starting to share a kiss, his face immediately wrinkled up, "Ew, teachers kissing! My eyes, they burn."

"Oh c'mon, Naruto," Ino teased, "don't get jealous just because your hand is still your best friend."

"Hey!" Naruto said, pouting playfully at the jab. He raised his right hand, and pointed at it with his left hand, "Don't hate on my hand because it's easy to handle, work efficient and doesn't need batteries."

"Oh my God I can't believe you admitted to masturba- Ew, ew, ew!" she fake-gagged because she wasn't really disgusted by it. In fact, she found it hot that he was man enough to admit it instead of blushing and trying to deny it. But then she caught on to the other part of his comment, "And for you information I don't need batteries because I do not pleasure myself! My body is nature's gift to the world but it's only for viewing pleasure. No touching! The only one who'll get to touch and pleasure me will be my true and only man".

"Yeah sure," he mumbled staring at their High School once their teachers had entered. A bit of his insecurity leaked out when he asked, "Are you sure you want to be seen with me?"

"We're here, aren't we?" she responded, not catching his sudden lack of self-confidence.

Again, Ino felt like if she was overlooking something really important. But because she still couldn't put her finger on it she dismissed it for the time being. Instead, she adjusted the backless little black dress she wore despite the countless ways it broke the school's dress code. But unless it was Principal Tsunade who caught her, she would just cock her hip to the side and rolled her eyes at whoever dared chastise her for her wardrobe choice.

"Let's just go, whiskers"

**-x-x-(At the dance)-x-x-**

It was the moment of truth, the moment that was sure to change lives. The moment both had been dreading, anticipating and hoping to be done and over with. Naruto and Ino entered the party together and…

…nobody gave a damn.

Ino waited at the entrance for a good two minutes.

Still nothing

"Ahem," she cleared her throat, hoping to gain somebody's (anybody's) attention and still received none of it. She, the most popular girl in her class had just arrived in the arms the class clown and nobody even bother to bat an eye their way?

But then she heard it. Somebody was clapping. But it wasn't the "oh you're so amazing I demand an encore" type of clap. No, it was the "everybody look at me, I'm clapping because I saw something so unbelievable I'm going to laugh at it" clap.

It was the slow clap.

And Ami was the one clapping.

This was one of the few times in life Ino would have much preferred no attention over _that_ kind of attention. Ami had once been one of the elites in class but that had changed one fateful day when she had bullied a young girl with a formidable forehead. Ino, not wanting to put up with that crap, had defended the young Sakura and consequently dethroned Ami from her reign. Ino had then become the new Queen Bee of their classes, and Ami had been labeled as a has-been.

_--x-x- Vocabulary lessons from Ino (Part One) -x-x--_

_**Has-been**__ – person who had been popular in the past but remains irrelevant and lame in the present._

_--x-x- End of Vocabulary lessons (Part One) -x-x--_

"Hey, hey," Ami stage-greeted as she made her way towards the blonde duo in the cattiest of walks she could manage, her heels clacking with every step. She was preparing her own stage and giving her audience enough time to stop whatever else they were doing so that they could focus on her. The purple haired girl then gave Ino a one-over and had to bite her lower lip to stop herself from laughing. "Ino with Naruto?" she announced loudly. "Ha… haha… hahahaha,"

The people at the perimeter of Ami's stage were now staring as she continued laughing hysterically. She took a breather, turned her attention to the crowd and stroke the gossip pose. She had one hand covering her mouth while her other hand pointed at the blond duo with her thump. "Ino and Naruto?" she laughed again and this time others joined her laughter by snickering and jeering.

"Oh how the mighty have fallen," Ami said loudly as she rudely pointed to Ino. "Seriously Ino, your idea for a date is Sakura's underprivileged hand-me-downs?"

More people in the crowd started laughing and Ami decided to ride this momentum. It was her moment to finally reclaim her throne. So still in the same pose she snickered, "I guess it's true what they say. One girl's trash is another one's treasure." At that she made it look like if she was eye-balling Ino before delivering her trump card. "Although to be fair, you were already trashy to begin with".

The mocking laughter ensued, and the worst part of it was that she wasn't laughing alone. People were now openly pointing and making low remarks. Popularity and respect really was a fickle thing that could change at a moment notice. And Naruto was starting to get upset and angry at how people openly made him the butt of the joke. But it was Ino who spoke up.

"Oh please," She rolled her eyes and cocked her hip to the right. She circled Ami once before returning to her spot next to her date and letting her fingers run smoothly through her platinum blonde hair.

Slowly

She mentally patted herself in the back for letting her hair grow to the length it was because it gave her enough time to come up with something clever to say. Thankfully she didn't have to ponder much because by just glancing at her right she remembered that she had already prepared beforehand.

"Everybody please take notes," Ino said as she ran her fingers over her date's shoulders, "You might learn something."

Step by step, she explained the six ways to tell if the suit fitted the guy wearing it. **1.** The shoulder pads had to end with the shoulders. **2.** The middle button of the three-buttoned suit should not fall under the navel. **3. **With the arms flat on the sides, the knuckles should be even with the bottom of the jacket. **4.** The jacket's sleeves should fall where the base of the thumbs meets the wrist. **5.** Between a quarter and half inch of the shirt's cuff should be visible. **6.** Finally, the slacks should have a one inch of break.

The suit fitted Naruto so well it was practically fitted for him, tailored-made even. Italian!

Kiba had really lent Naruto some expensive stuff.

"Face it Ami, my man is the catch of the evening," Ino shot back as she laced her arms under Naruto's pits and tucked her head underneath his chin.

By devaluing what Ami had said about Naruto being underprivileged, Ino could make it seem as if everything else the has-been said was also without a sound base. Consequently it would look like if Ino was the one who was well informed. And in this day and age, information was power. People were naturally attracted to power. And that power was Ino's.

"Oh and by the way, nice dress you're wearing Ami," Ino said with full cattiness and proceeded to frivolously laugh. "But I liked it better when it was a curtain at Bed, Bath & Beyond".

Karin, who was just passing by, stopped at that comment and stared at Ami flatly. The redhead then readjusted her glasses with her index finger before snidely proclaiming, "It does look like a curtain."

And everybody started laughing, some at Ino's comment and others at Karin's comedic timing. But the case was Ino saved herself from being ridiculed, and Karin had just assisted in cutting the wings of another girl. The less female contenders there were the more chances the popular girls had of staking an Uchiha.

Ino took this chance to latch unto Naruto's arm and pull him away. She had now realized something of critical importance and needed some peace to strategize.

In reality Ino had to hand it to Ami. Thanks to her jealousy both Naruto and Ino's name had gotten into people mouths. But also thanks to it, Ino had finally managed to grasp what she had overlooked. The second she entered the dance with Naruto, their reputation became intertwined to one another. Because of how right now they seemed like a couple, anything that made Naruto look bad would consequently make her look bad as well, and vice-versa.

But if that was true then maybe it worked the other way around as well. If Naruto looked good, then because he was her accessory, she would look better.

This meant that she couldn't afford to do anything that would make Naruto look bad. That placed a serious wrench in her Naruto+Kiba scheme, but she could deal. Hopefully. In fact she was stressing out, not that her exterior would reveal it.

Her plans had once again backfired on her and now she again had to improvise.

"Seesh," she sighed, whoever said that being popular was easy clearly was only popular in his own mind. Popularity was initially granted by a first impression. That was generally true. But in order to remain popular and not a 'has been' one had to not only want it, but work for it. Sure, the price of popularity came with its good share of enemies. But who could say 'no' to the lime-light?

For now it was only a matter of synergy and positive feedback

_--x-x- Vocabulary lessons from Ino (Part Two) -x-x--_

_**Synergy**__ - the working together of two or more people, organizations, or things, especially when the sum of their combine efforts is greater than the sum of their individual effects or capabilities._

_**Positive Feedback**__ - system in which another system responds with a perturbation A in the same direction as perturbation B, that is, "A produces more of B which in turn produces more of A"_

_--x-x- End of Vocabulary lessons (Part Two)-x-x--_

Naruto didn't really get what just happened between Ami and Ino and why were the people now whispering things about him and his date but he did understand that Ino had out right called him "her man" in front of everyone. And she seemed satisfied when she called him that. That was the first time girl has ever called him that, and in a way, he liked being called "her man".

His mind briefly wondered how many his "firsts" would continue to be taken by Ino, though she still had a lot of catching up to do. Sakura being the first girl he ever dreamt about, and Sasuke the first person he ever *cough*kissed*cough*.

**-x-x-(The dinner table #12)-x-x-**

Temari was not happy. At first she was when Gaara had come home with a flyer of the school dance, and asked her to go to the dance with him. Her baby brother, at a school dance, and wanting her sister to be there with him. It was bliss.

Gaara has never participated in school activities. The fact that he wanted to go made her feel like if there was still hope for him to become a normal teenager. But the dance was a couple themed one so he needed a girl to go along with him. Temari gladly accepted, first, because it felt good to know that she was needed by her baby brother. Second, because it gave her the opportunity to observe what type of people Gaara associated himself with. She wanted to know if he had friends, a secret admirer, a gang, a click, a something. And third, she was curious about this "Naruto Uzumaki" that both her brothers had mentioned in more than one occasion.

It was weird for Gaara to take an interest in anyone but after his first day at Konoha, when she asked him how it was, he answered, "Naruto Uzumaki".

That was all he said on the matter, but it got her really curious. He shouldn't be too hard to find, according to Kankuro, Naruto had six scars on his face. All she had to do was look for an unfortunate looking blond.

But as the hours progressed, and no scarred blond was on sight, she started to believe that maybe he wasn't going to show. She wanted to know if he was friends with Gaara. But so far she had done nothing but sit next to her baby brother doing nothing but staring at other people dancing. She wanted to tell him that he wasn't going to get any new friends if he just sat there but she knew better than to suggest it.

Reminding Gaara of how friendless he was would only cause a temper tantrum. She rather not experience another round of that, especially in public.

**-x-x-(On the dance floor)-x-x-**

Blonde sophomores stepped in the center of the dance, knowing it would be the place they would gather the most attention. First thing on Ino's list of priorities was to convince everyone that she wasn't ashamed of being seen with Naruto, and hence, if the most popular girl wasn't ashamed of being seen with him, then the others would follow her example and not be ashamed of him either.

Dancing was the best way to pull that off, because in reality the only one that could afford to be seen with a clown like Naruto was Sasuke. The Uchiha's popularity was that untouchable.

For the dance, Naruto had left his suit's jacket with Chouji at Ino's suggestion, telling him that it might get ruined if he wore it while dancing.

Naruto had chuckled throughout the entire banter Ino and Chouji had because of it. Because the later didn't want to be holding other people's suits, while the former reprimanded him with catty comments like "it's not like if you're going to do anything else besides eating,"

Naruto had chuckled even more when he heard Shikamaru complain about women again, saying he never wanted to have a girlfriend, ever. Naruto had asked him why he thought that and the lazy Nara answered, "It's just too tiresome, Naruto. When a girl likes someone, she begins appearing in his life out of nowhere. Then they start commanding you to do little errands for them and stuff. And next thing you know you won't getting any sleep because a needy girlfriend will call you every night to talk about everything and anything. It's a complete drag if you ask me."

But back to the present

"Ok whiskers let's dance"

"Um… ok,"

They started moving. Naruto accidently stepped on her.

"Ouch"

"Sorry"

Ino took a deep breath. She couldn't afford to get angry. She was supposed to make all of the others envious of her boy toy. Hence she needed to look happy.

"Ouch,"

"Hehehe, sorry, my bad,"

They leered at each other for a second and then they both tried to dance again. Naruto moved his right foot forward but unfortunately Ino had moved her left forward at the same time.

"Yeaouch! Damn it, whiskers! I give up! What was I thinking when I let you lead me to the dance floor"

"Well maybe if you would let me take the lead I wouldn't be stepping on you so much"

"Then how about I make us both a favor and leave!" she fumed. She berated herself for ever thinking that dancing with Naruto was a good idea. Now everyone that heard her outburst would realize how frustrated she really was. Everything had been going wrong so far. Sure she got some people's attention when she made her entrance with Naruto, but they weren't the people whose attention she was craving. She wanted Sasuke's and Sakura's but that couple hasn't even regarded them yet.

But she wasn't about to throw a tantrum in public, she was big enough as a person to admit it had all been her fault anyways. She should've never expected to achieve something by utilizing Naruto. He might've been easy to manipulate but in the end he was just not good enough. Her popularity was worlds apart from his and he would never reach her. She felt stupid for ever believing he had any decent value.

Frankly, she hadn't been getting any sleep over the week and now she was tired of it. So turning away to give her date a lazy glance over her shoulder, she said, "I'm sorry for bringing you here, whiskers, I should've known you couldn't dance."

That rubbed him wrong and without knowing it he had already taken several steps into her personal space.

"I can so dance," he stated. He was vaguely aware that he was sounding like an eight year old but couldn't bring himself to care. There was sheer determination visible on his face and she, for some reason, couldn't resist the urge to give him one of her maddening, teasing smiles.

She shrugged, "Sorry whiskers, you got no rhythm."

For a moment he just stood there, mouth opening and closing incoherently. He recognized a challenge when he heard one, especially after enduring so many years of mocking and teasing remarks.

He boldly moved into the front of her personal space, slipping his hands around her sides and pulling her well into him. He grinned at the surprise so clear on her face. Who said he couldn't read facial expressions as well?

"Naruto, what are you doing?" She suddenly felt conscious of the very few inches separating them and of his body heat emanating through the fabric around his arms and into her mostly bare skin. He was a furnace, but she had known this from the very few times she had held him close. His body had always radiated warmth.

But now he was awfully close and looking down at her with a devilish glint in his eyes that was making her nervous, and her skin was starting to feel hypersensitive. _"The way he stares at me it's almost like… is he about to take me on the floor?"_

But then his confident stare turned into a confused one and then he chuckled while lamely admitting, "I don't know what I should do next."

She deadpanned, _"Way to kill the mood,"_ She knew him as unpredictable but now she was starting to believe that he was just clueless.

"Just do as I do," she sighed, walking him back to the center of the dance floor. She told him to close his eyes and "hear the beat".

He did just that and started bopping his head. The beat slowly made its way to his feet and he started tapping his right one. From there the vibe traveled up to his hand and he snapped his fingers thrice before both his arms and legs started moving from side to side. He was still bopping his head when he opened his eyes to see Ino sending him an approving smile. She was dancing in a similar manner, albeit with more hip action and she would occasionally wave her hands up in the air.

Two club-bangers passed and they were still dancing in the same fashion as earlier when Ino raised her hands to wave them at the start of the third song. Naruto noticed the bead of sweat that was traveling down into the shadow between her breasts.

He shook his head like a dog shaking off water and tried to clear his mind from dirty thoughts. Ino was not Sakura. He didn't like Ino that way. But it was so hard to pry his eyes off when Ino made it almost impossible. Every time she lowered her hands she would roam them over her curves.

Looking around he noticed that every other couple was dancing a whole lot closer to each other than he was to Ino. He stared at her again and gulped. He had once tried rubbing against Sakura and she had pummeled him down for it. But Ino…

He moved behind her and hovered there, not moving too fast or too hard on her. He was trying to send the message that he was not a threat to her. Ino noticed this, rolled her eyes and said, "Don't be so afraid to touch, whiskers," before taking the initiative and moving her back closer so that their whole bodies were up against the other. She had to admit, he was the perfect height for her.

Soon they started dancing in the same manner everybody else was. _"Like the cool kids"_ Naruto grinned with a sense of self-accomplishment.

While grinding he started to really enjoy the feel a woman against him. His eyes were half-lidded and he briefly wondered how he ended on the dance floor with the most popular girl in his class. He became slightly aware that he was beginning to rub harder and faster against her when he felt his blood flow relentlessly to two different parts of his body. It was then he realized that maybe he was enjoying the feel of her a little too much.

He opened his eyes, not realizing when he had closed them, and tried to pull away, but Ino misread his intentions and thought that he wanted her to twirl. So she did and pressed herself back against his being, now dancing face to face.

She noticed the red color his face had taken but thought nothing much of it, after all, the air conditioner wasn't exactly cooling them.

At a certain low to the beat, Ino let her body fall and grinded her way up on Naruto's right leg. His hands automatically landed on her hips bones and stayed there to keep her away from his new developed problem. But as she insisted on dancing closer and gave a quiet moan as she wrapped her arms around his neck, his control started to fade. His left hand made its way to the small of her back and his other one landed on her naked thigh. He was blushing madly as he did so.

She was really enjoying how nervous yet daring he was behaving as they danced. She liked it because it made her feel good that guys would blush around her but she also enjoyed that he was man enough to still do what he wanted without letting her intimidate him.

Ino felt another low beat coming from the clubbing speakers and allowed her weight descend again. But as she grinded her way up his leg, she felt something poking her body and creating friction with her as she got up.

At that instant Naruto felt his self-control slip so much and got lost in that pleasurable friction that he groped her ass and pulled her against him, practically impaling her with his manhood, causing her to moan his name. If she ever had any doubts of whether if he wore boxers or briefs, not only did she now know that the answer was boxers but also that he was incredibly hung.

"S-Sorry," Naruto stammered, ashamed and freaking out as he made his move to escape. As if Ino would allow him to do so. She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him against her again, except that his time she was giving her back to him since she too was incredibly flustered. It was better if they didn't immediately face each other before speaking.

Besides, she saw how his face flinched in pain when she grabbed him. Almost as if he was expecting her to deck him.

"It's okay," she said, impressed by how her voice didn't give away how breathless she was. "It's okay," she repeated, "I'm not going to hit you". She could now feel him hard between her thighs and she ground it down.

"Ino," he whispered to her ear as he wrapped his arms securely around her, "thanks for not freaking out on me."

Before both knew it they had started dancing harder against each other, losing themselves to their carnal instincts as their bodies mingled. She would reach for his belt and press him closer and he would snake his hands around her thighs, around her waist, and his hands would even brush beneath her breasts.

He twirled her around and soon the music disappeared for them. All their senses could register was each other's being. She could no longer feel the floor. Wait, her feet were no longer on the floor. Naruto had hoisted her up and she had wrapped her legs around him, pressing both their sexes together. They could only hear each other's groans, pants, and moans, she in his ear and he on her neck as he ravished it.

That bliss soon came to a sudden halt when they were pulled apart from each other by two gruff hands belonging to one Saratobi Asuma.

It was as if time had stopped as the blondes realized that they had practically been dry humping on the center of the dance, and that everybody there had heard and seen them going at it.

Mr. Asuma was standing tall between them as he shook his head at the situation. The rest of the students held mixed expressions between awe, disbelieve, lust, repulsion and there were simply way too many faces watching for Ino to decipher what the general reception was.

All she knew was that she had lost self-control and that could never be a good thing, that is, until her eyes finally landed on Sakura's face. The pink haired girl looked hot, breathless and bothered. And her green eyes kept shifting from blond to blond, with a hint of jealousy, bewilderment and possessiveness on them.

Meanwhile Sasuke looked downright pissed.

And Ino knew she had achieved something, she wasn't sure what but she knew that it had given her some sort of edge. But she needed time to catch her breath and by glancing at Naruto he needed a breather as well. He looked every bit as exhilarated as she was, or maybe even more. Males were known for being easier to turn on than females.

Also she needed to go fix herself but first she had to deal with Mr. Asuma. He was looking every bit like the bouncer about to throw them out.

She couldn't afford to be thrown out. So she did what every girl with the power of information on her side would have done. She resorted to the power of blackmail.

"Don't worry Asuma-sensei," she said cutely, batting her eyelashes twice at him, "I'm sure Naruto has the rubber. Every guy knows to wear protection when doing it with someone he is not official with." Then she smiled cutely. "Oops, my mistake, maybe not _every_ guy."

"…" Asuma raised his eyebrows.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Ino asked lowly for only Asuma to hear her, the little smile on her face sweeten with a pinch of evil.

"…," Asuma continued staring, as if measuring her.

Ino batted her eyes again.

"I'll let you off with a warning this time," Asuma sighed, scratching the side of his beard before muttering to himself that he needed another smoke.

Crisis adverted.

Ino really felt like patting herself in the back. She was so good at pleading her case she could one day be a very convincing lawyer. Maybe even a politician. No, scrap that idea. Why would she choose a career were a magnifying glass would be placed on all of her corrupt and conniving ways? She had an image to uphold.

Returning to the present

"Whiskers!" she said, shaking him off of his stupor, "I'll have to fix my hair, wait for me by the snack bar". He didn't need to be told twice, he made a beeline to the boy's room. He needed to use the facilities too, albeit for a different reason than her.

**-x-x-(Back to the dinner table #12)-x-x-**

They had been on their table the entire evening. Gaara hasn't moved from there nor even made an effort to speak. Not even to her, his sister. And the worse of it was that she hasn't been asked to dance, once. She was wearing a long skin tight dress that opened up just high enough to reveal her entire right leg. There should be a line filled with guys that wanted to ask her out. "_What? Am I not good looking enough? Do I intimidate them?"_ she seethed.

Glancing at her stoic baby brother, she huffed. Gaara had asked her to go with him so the least he could do was dance with her once. _"Men, selfish to no end! Where is their empathy toward others?"_

Well if he wasn't going to ask her to dance, he could at least get her something to drink. "Gaara, get me something to drink."

"Get it yourself" he answered, his eyes were currently closed and his arms crossed. He was shutting himself from the world.

"Gaara," Temari snarled, "Get. Me. Something. To. Drink. Now!"

The redhead glared at her but she just glared back. He scowled and got up to fetch her something to drink. Temari didn't enjoy being bossy with her baby brother but sometimes she needed to remind him that she was his elder sister and the only woman in his life. She demanded respect.

As she watched him leave she noticed a lazy looking teen staring at her table. She had stolen glances of him a few times before, but every time she did she would see him leaning against some wall to trying to sleep. And he slept while standing up. What kind of guy goes to a party to sleep? But now that guy was staring at her table and… wait, why would a guy be staring at her table? Could it be that… he was staring at her instead?

The guy with the lazy stare started walking towards her. _"Oh god, finally! Somebody is going to ask me to dance!" _she quickly pulled her pocket mirror so that she could fix her hair and check her teeth. She didn't want to risk having something stuck there while a guy was asking her out.

The guy finally stopped at her table and locked eyes with her. He extended his hand to her but before she could take it he asked, "Is that seat taken?"

"_What?"_ She finally noticed he had been staring at the empty chair beside her all along, "Not really" she answered.

"Good," he said as he took the chair, "I was getting tired of standing."

She looked away for him and damned her luck. Just when she thought she was going to get some dancing the guy just settles to sit beside her. _"Wait, maybe he is just playing it smooth. He just wants to get to know me first before he takes me to the floor"_ With that thought in mind she turned around to face him but didn't find his face. His face was currently nested in his arms which where folded above the table. She thought she heard him mutter something but when she leaned in for better hearing she noticed that he was just snoring.

She counted from ten to one, hoping her urged to snap at somebody would recede. It didn't. She placed her elbow at the table and rested her face on the palm of her hand. _"Oh well," _she thought,_ "It's not like if I were the type of women who let men make the decisions."_

So without much preamble, she extended one of her legs under the guy's chair and with it, pulled it from right under him.

"Fuck," the wide awake Shikamaru grunted after his jaw hit the floor, "what the heck?"

"Oh, good to see you're awake," Temari said in a jovial yet condescending tone, "So are you going to ask me to dance or what?"

It didn't take long for Shikamaru to figure out that she purposely pulled the chair from right under him. He eyed her lazily. She was blond, like Ino, probably bossy, like Ino, and simply screamed 'troublesome'. He didn't even need to think about what he wanted to answer. "What happens if I say no?" he tested.

She narrowed her eyes dangerously at him. A threatening look that clearly said, 'Ask me to dance or I will throttle you regardless of my own questionable morals'. He sighed and massaged the back of his neck. He already dreaded what his answer would be. But in all the scenarios that had flashed over his mind, this answer promised to be one that didn't end up with him being physically injured by a girl.

"Okay, but just one dance"

When Gaara returned to the table with Temari's drink she was no longer there. Instead, someone who he briefly recognized came to him and invaded his personal bubble.

"What? Your girlfriend ditched you?" Dosu laughed, "Can't blame her though,"

Gaara glanced at him but decided he could care less about his existence. So instead, he opted to drink Temari's cup.

"Hey, don't ignore me." Dosu yelled, "Don't think I've forgotten what you did to us! We got turned in to the police because of you."

Gaara just tuned the guy out. It was not his fault they tried to rob him. Plus it wasn't Gaara who called the cops on Dosu and the other two weaklings he was hanging with.

"You think you can do stuff like that and get away with it." Dosu challenged, not backing off once from the redhead's personal bubble. It was giving Gaara a headache, and he knew exactly how to deal with people that were too loud for his comfort.

The redhead finally directed his attention towards the guy that was fronting him. "If you have a problem with me let's take this outside." He said, leading the way out. If this person didn't get that Gaara had no business with him then Gaara would personally make it clear not to ever to cross paths with him again.

**-x-x-(The boy's restrooms)-x-x-**

Naruto rushed there and locked himself in one of the stalls. He let the toilet lid down and sat on it in an effort to calm his breathing. Blushing madly again, he unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned his slacks and pulled the zipper down. He allowed his hands to travel under the waistband of his boxers and felt how moisten and sticky they felt. It was covered in his seeds, his essence.

He gripped his cock, shuddering madly with pleasure as he squeezed out the last drops.

"I can't believe I creamed myself," he said wrinkling his face at his situation and face-palming himself. He got off of his slacks and slipped his boxers off before redoing his slacks and belt. Peeking his flushed face out of the stall, he sighed in relief when he noticed the room was empty. But for good measure he peeked under the other stalls.

It was now or never. He grabbed his creamed boxers and opened the faucet. He couldn't wear them like they were because it would stick to the hairs on his sack, crotch and legs, hindering his movement and make it uncomfortable for him.

He needed to clean his boxers of its glistening sticky residue, fast.

Then in true horror movie fashion, a door creaked open and someone came in. Naruto's breath hitched and he practically froze on the spot as the visitor took his place in one of the urinals. It was his social studies teacher.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted as carried out his business in the same manner he did everything else. His right hand doing everything from working on his pants to flushing the urinal, while his left hand held his open copy of Make-Out Violence (Icha Icha Violence) close to his face. He later washed his right hand at the sink adjacent to Naruto's.

"Later," Kakashi said, now done with his business, seemingly unaware of Naruto's current situation.

But then the teacher suddenly came to a dramatic halt at the exit. Three different snapshots occurred then. The first one was with Kakashi giving his back to Naruto, the next one was with Kakashi's face turned to the side, and the last one was with Kakashi staring directly at Naruto.

"Say Naruto…" he started, "is that your underwear?" he said pointing at the fabric between the blonde's fingers. Kakashi secretly enjoyed how the blond paled as he was caught in the act. "Hmmm," the teacher hummed, shrugging it off, "I guess I can watch the door for you."

"Eh?" Was all Naruto could manage to say before his teacher walked out. "_Was that it? Did Kakashi-sensei really let me off that easy?"_

But then Kakashi popped his head back in.

"But say, Naruto…" Kakashi said cheerfully, and Naruto could already guess his teacher was smiling under his mask by the way his eye turned into a weird upside-down "u" shape, "I heard from a reliable source that Make-Out Tactics (Icha Icha Tactics) will be released in a month or two. I want an autograph copy of it the day before its release. Later!" And with that the silver haired teacher was gone.

"_Pervert! Extortionist!"_ Naruto shouted in his mind but voiced a "Will do, Kakashi-sensei"

Another crisis adverted. That could've been an embarrassing scene but Kakashi had really let him off easy. That was one of the reasons Naruto called him "sensei", because the blonde new that while not always on his side, Kakashi really cared for his students. Just like another teacher Naruto would affectionately call "sensei".

After Naruto finished washing his boxers, he wrung them out and placed them under the warm hand dryer, hoping to get them dry enough for him to wear again. He really didn't want to risk going commando under his slacks. Plus it's not like anyone would be able to see the large stain on his boxers.

While drying up his underwear though, he remembered why he was there in the first place.

Ino

He, like Sasuke, never liked to attend to this sort of things but Ino had downright insisted that he made an appearance. And how could he deny her request? It helped his goal of becoming class president. Plus he also thought of the way she had cooked for him, ironed his clothes, offered her lap to him, pursued him… wait! Pursued? _"Is that what she's been doing so far?"_

He remembered how angry she got when he told her that he was happy that Sakura and Sasuke were together. It hadn't been a complete lie. He was happy, for Sakura. Because she got to go with the person she liked the most. He wasn't happy with himself though. Ino had seen right through his façade and slapped it out of his system.

He rubbed his cheek with one hand while his other hand kept holding his boxers to the drying machine. "Damn, she can slap hard." He admitted. But instead of frowning he smiled because of it. "She can't hit as hard as Sakura-chan though".

But Sakura was happy with Sasuke. Naruto on the other hand, _"don't I deserve a little happiness of my own?"_

He shrugged, maybe he didn't deserve happiness but Ino was surely adamant in wanting him to be happy and stuff. Then the thought of it hit him like a drunk driver at night. Hard and without warning. The way she courted him, the looking out for him, and the wanting him to call her so that they could chat and stuff. She had also been angry when he failed to call her that one time because of Sasuke.

That's when Shikamaru's words replayed themselves for Naruto.

"_It's just too tiresome, Naruto. When a girl likes someone, she begins appearing in his life out of nowhere. Then they start commanding you to do little errands for them and stuff. And next thing you know you won't getting any sleep because a needy girlfriend will call you every night to talk about everything and anything. It's a complete drag if you ask me."_

Four scenarios flashed through his mind soon after.

The first was the time he was lost in the Mall and asked Kiba to help him out. Ino had followed them and demanded his attention. The second was when he was studying with Sasuke and Sakura at the Starbucks. Out of thin air Ino had appeared and interrupted their study session and he ended up going to the doll store to get something for her. In the third scenario, he was at the beach with his friends when suddenly the "Charlie's Angels" music played and Ino strutted her way into his life with her little lace bikini. And in the last scenario, he was supposed to be skating with Sasuke when all of the sudden Ino appeared there as well.

Ino has been following him, popping out of nowhere and questioning things about his life. It finally dawn on him the reason Ino had developed such sudden interest in him. He now knew what she wanted from him.

He remembered Ino saying _"The only one who'll get to touch and pleasure me will be my true one and only man"_. And Ino had given him permission to practically grope her on the dance floor.

"She likes me," he said wide-eyed, in a hush tone, completely stunned by his revelation. Ino, the most popular girl in his class was_ into_ him. HIM!

"Yes! I knew I was hot!" he voiced with egotistic certainty, pumping his fists into the air and almost letting his boxers fly off. He caught them in time though. "Close one, hehe." Remembering his task, he got off his slacks and pulled up his boxers, carefully tucking himself in them. As he did this he looked at himself in the wall mirror.

"Ino likes me," he said in a whisper, feeling his body getting warmer again. The feelings might be reciprocal too.

"Ribbit"

Naruto turned at the sound and saw an amphibious jumping out of one of the stalls.

"Eh? What's a toad doing here?"

**-x-x-(At the snack bar)-x-x-**

"And that's how I saved him from committing suicide," Ino finished, and the girls around her were eating it all up like gays did a Madonna album. Because Naruto, wherever he was, still hadn't caught up to her by the snack bar, Ino had decided to be productive with her time alone. And by productive she meant spreading rumors. There was a big dance number coming up and if she somehow managed to win that over Sasuke and Sakura, she would cement her position as better than them.

She already knew how it worked. It was just another popularity poll under the 'guise of "a dance contest". The people who won were not the best dancers; they were the more popular ones. So by default, all Sasuke had to do was lift a finger and the school would hand-deliver him the crown on a silver platter like if he was God's gift to them, which she wouldn't have minded if she was his date.

But Sakura was his date, and by Sasuke winning it meant Sakura won as well.

And Ino downright refused to be upstaged by Sakura again.

So in order to improve her chances of winning she started spreading some rumors about how Naruto and she came to be. Spreading dirt about Sakura came easy for her. She was telling all the other girls how Sakura had waited until the last minute to dump Naruto, which was practically true. But then she exaggerated it by saying that when she found out she rushed to Naruto's apartment and saw him about to hang himself.

All the girls had gasped at that revelation and immediately demanded that Ino elaborated on that hot new gossip. Something Ino practically lived for. So she retold the story in a way to make it seemed like if Naruto was emotionally unstable and that it was her who saved him. And to seal her sympathy points she then said that she did it because she wanted to let him know that people really did care about him and that if she could, she would win the dance contest with him so that he could feel welcomed and appreciated by the rest of his peers. So that he would know that it was not the end of the world.

The girls around her started weeping at that and promised Ino they would vote for her no matter what.

Ino just wiped a fake tear off her eyes and thanked the other girls for their understanding. Sure, she had probably just bought herself a one-way ticket to hell but at least she'll go with a crown.

But then as Ino waved goodbye to the girls that took off to spread the gossip, Ami had bumped into Ino and "accidentally" let her full cup of punch fly into Ino's face and dress.

"Oops, sorry," Ami said.

"I know damn well this wasn't an accident!" Ino shouted, catching the attention of many. The punch had entered her eyes and it was stinging them. She could feel tears coming out in irritation.

"Ino, Ino, Ino," Ami started giving the blonde another one over. The girls that were heading to spread the gossip did a 180 and returned to Ino's side. They weren't about to miss this. And as if sensing the fussing of an upcoming fight, the guys also started crowding the girls. No guy would ever pass up a chance to see a catfight.

Ino cursed under her breath. Must every action she take have a negative consequence for her? Was it karma?

It was at times like this where she wondered if her life would've been easier if she was just a recurrent character that contributed nothing to the plot. A weak character created for the sole purpose of making the heroine look better by comparison. The type of character that would be seen most of her time at a flower shop instead of in her line of duty! Someone who was destined to play the role of the observer whenever someone else had to achieve something important! Wallpaper!

Her inner rant came to a screeching halt, however, when Ami deemed she had a decent audience to start her attack. After all, what's good about trashing another girl's reputation without people to witness it?

"Saw you dancing," Ami informed while playing with a lock of her short length hair, with a face of pure disgust, "Could you have been any more of a slut?" she asked and then laughed at her own question, picking the interest of those who heard her. "What am I saying? Of course you can. Isn't that why Mr. Asuma let you off?"

The whispers from the crowd soon followed Ami's statement. And if they would've quieted down they would've heard Ino growling. She was pissed at what Ami was insinuating. But Ino wasn't going to reveal her suspicions about Mr. Asuma and Ms. Kurenai. She might have played with the idea but she knew better than to anger those who graded her exams.

Elsewhere, Naruto was walking with full pockets when he noticed a crowd gathering around the snack bar. Naturally curious he went to investigate and arrived just in time to hear Ami say, "You're such a whore Ino. Is that how you get your free passes? By sleeping with your teachers?"

And something inside Naruto had just burst with rage when he saw that the girls that were on Ino's side had now abandon her in favor of Ami. The whole concept of '_abandoning_' really struck a nerve with him. The fact that Ino looked a little haggard and her face was stained with tears didn't help his mood.

Ami was about to make another comment when she felt something drop on her head. Something slimy. And when she saw everybody gasp and point at the top of her head she paled. She could feel a big slimy pouch on top, with four little legs stroking her hair.

"Ribbit!"

"Ahhhh!" she yelled as the toad jumped in front her, scaring her to the back and making her trip on her heels. She fell backwards and tumbled on the snack bar behind her. The snacks went flying and dropped on her one by one.

Naruto took this chance to grab Ino and pulled her away from the scene. The girl allowed herself to be dragged but her eyes stayed on Ami, counting how many snacks dropped on her and ruined her hair, make-up and attire.

It was a 16-Hit combo

Naruto kept his eyes to the front, only faltering in his step when he crossed paths with the angry looking Principal Tsunade. She gave him a pointed stare that promised punishment once the dance was over. But she'll have to deal with Ami first, and later with Ino's wardrobe choice. This was a school after all, not a night club.

Once the blondes stopped running, Ino started jumping up and down in excitement. "Oh my god, whiskers, did you saw that frog?"

"Eh, it was a toad," Naruto corrected, scratching the back of his head while grinning at her.

"How can you tell if it was a…" she started but when she noticed the grin on his face she finished it up with another question, "You threw that on her?"

"Well I can't let anyone pick on my date, can I?" he proclaimed, winking at her. She had to giggle at his enthusiasm.

"That's so cool" she said with sparkling eyes, "Disgusting, but cool"

"No problem," he said grabbing a napkin to clean her face, but as he did this he noticed that her dress was also stained. Ino noticed it too.

"Noo!" She wailed. Just what she needed! Could anything more go wrong for her? "Everything is so messed up! Why can't things ever go my way! Look at me, I look like a soaked rodent! My eyeliner is running! I hate this, how are we supposed to go out there again? We can't dance the final waltz like this. Naruto, we can't win this like this. Whiskers? Hey whiskers, are you listening to me?"

"Dwah!" Naruto shouted, pulling a scary/goofy face on Ino.

"Tah! What the heck,"

"Hehe, sorry but you were talking too much"

"Well, talk about rude!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever, but we came here to rule, right?" he said grinning and pointing to himself, "then leave it to me! I'll waltz us to king and queen"

"Oh gosh, whiskers, you're so simpleminded."

"Is that a 'yes Naruto, we'll do it your way'?" he wiggled his eyebrow at her and gave her a toothy grin. She raised an eyebrow at that one. Something seemed different about him. His speech was full of confidence, like if he knew that she wouldn't say no.

"Fine," she droned, "how can I resist."

"Hehehe," Naruto was grinning from ear to ear. He was ecstatic. Nothing could stop his burst of confidence. He now _'knew'_ that the girl was into him so he was feeling suave and smug. And since she had made him come to the dance he felt like returning the favor by making her have the best dance of her life. And maybe, even steal a kiss and tell her he wanted to become hers, and wanted her to become his. He always acted on impulse and his impulse was telling him that she felt right.

"What?" she asked, noticing that he was spacing out.

"Hehehe, nothing, it's just that you cave because you found me irresistible"

"Sonova..."she started in bewilderment. She, find him irresistible? What was he on what was he insinuating?

"ATTENTION PLEASE!" the intercom sounded, "In thirty minutes a meal will be served and after it the contest will begin. In the meantime, we'll be playing a special Power Point Presentation the seniors have received from the 'camera & film' club"

"Shit!" Ino shot out. She had completely forgotten to tell her pawns that the 'Out of the Closet' operation was a no go. She needed to stop them, fast.

"Whiskers, go find Shika and Cho and get us a table. I'll back soon!"

**-x-x-(At dinner table #7)-x-x-**

Sasuke was brooding and half-listening to what Sakura was telling him when he heard the intercom announce the special Power Point Presentation.

_-_-_-_-_- (Mini-Flashback) -_-_-_-_-_-_

_Ino rushed pass Sasuke and entered the 'camera & film' club. That was odd because not only did she not pay any attention to him but he was also sure she didn't belong to that club. Not that it was any of his business but either way that clubroom happened to be in the direction he had to take to get off the school premises._

_But just as he was leaving he distinctly heard Naruto's name. Of course, he heard people mentioning Naruto's name quite often but what caught his interest was the person who said it. He recognize that voice anywhere, it belonged to the one girl who had been acting odd._

_Ino Yamanaka._

_He clenched his teeth, swallowed his pride and pressed his ear against the club door. __"The things I do for the dobe"__ he thought bitterly. That's when he heard it, or more specifically, that's when he heard her saying, "And that's when we set Naruto up. Make sure the lights are on him. Sure he'll be humiliated but he'll endure. Get Kiba in there too"._

_-_-_-_-_- (End of Mini-Flashback) -_-_-_-_-_-_

The brooding teen darted off in search of the clueless blond. _"Funny how the world works_," Sasuke thought with grim humor, _"The dobe used to be the one always following me and now it's me who is trying to find the idiot among the masses"_. That only made his frustration spark, _"Why is that idiot even here to begin with? If he wants to become president so badly he should be focusing on his studies. He doesn't have time to be following people around."_

But now the Uzumaki was in social danger. And he, the Uchiha, now had to save the blond's ass from his own stubbornness and ignorance. Sasuke wasn't going to allow his comrade to fall when he still had a chance to save him. He had to get Naruto out of there no matter what.

"S-Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called, rushing behind her date who had taken off while she was mid sentence. "Sasuke-kun, is something wrong?"

The Uchiha didn't answer; he just kept searching for the blond in the bright orange dress shirt. He found him asking some random people if they could teach him how to waltz. Naruto was talking to that androgynous senior Sasuke had disliked ever since he first laid eyes on his girly face. Haku

"Naruto," Sasuke said, not so discreetly dismissing Haku as if he was yesterday's news, "You need to get out of here, now"

"What?" both Naruto and Sakura chorused in perfect unison, but Naruto elaborated more on it. "Why should I be leaving?" he asked before pointing an accusing finger, "I almost didn't come because of you."

"Dobe, I was trying to save you from humiliation." Sasuke stated, as if it should've been obvious.

"By taking Sakura-chan away from me?" Naruto asked angrily, understandably confused by the Uchiha's logic.

"Naruto, listen to me. I was trying to keep you away from here. Ino is planning something bad."

"Again with that? What's your problem with my friends? I start getting popular and people start respecting me. They want to hang with me and now even want to be seen with me. And they are not embarrassed by it!" That part really affected Naruto the most, "They come over to my place, invite me into their houses, introduce me to their siblings, make ramen for me and everything else _friends_ should be doing for each other." Naruto was livid now, "Why do you have to be such a jackass about them?"

"You moron, listen to me already! Those people are not your friends!" Sasuke said, forcefully pulling the other by the neck-tie so that they could meet eye to eye, "They are just using you! I bet it was Ino who dragged you here. Wasn't she?" the Uchiha inquired and the other nodded slowly. "See? She's just using you! Probably to get me."

"Bastard!" Naruto shouted, pushing the raven haired boy off, "It's Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke! Do you really think everything is always 'Sasuke'? Why can't it be about 'Naruto' for once?"

"Because no one _else_ cares, you deadlast! You already know the answer to that question!" Sasuke was getting really frustrated. _"Why can't Naruto see that I'm just looking out for him?"_ He needed to make Naruto come to his senses so they could ditch the dance already. Naruto needed to understand that the people he thought were his friends, really weren't.

"Do you want to know why it's always 'Sasuke'?" the Uchiha asked, "People want to be around me because I'm popular. Because I am someone! You are not popular. You are just something people can point at, laugh at, and feel better about themselves at!"

Naruto gritted his teeth in response. "So you think you're more popular than me, is that it?"

"Dumbass, I **know** that I'm more popular than you. How many love letters do you receive daily? None!"

"Pfft… haha… hahahaha,"

"What's so funny?"

"Nothin' funny. I'm just excited". Naruto said rubbing the bridge under his nose, "To think that I can finally beat you here."

"Beat me? At what you dumbass? Why are you so full of yourself?"

"Ha! You, who's always been so cool-headed, is talking more than usual. That's not like you. Could it be that you're scared despite the fact that you picked the fight, Sasuke?"

"What are you getting at? Loser,"

"You say you're better than me but not once have I ever thought myself as any lower than you. So what if all the girls want to be with you, guess what? At least I have friends! How many of _those_ do you have? **Sasuke-chan! **I think you're just scared that I'll outgrow you!"

"Naruto, stop it!" Sakura shouted, extending an arm between the blond and the raven. It was a good thing she did, because Sasuke looked like if he was about to impart a world of pain on Naruto. "Naruto, you idiot! I don't know what's going on but Sasuke-kun is obviously worried about you. Be a little more grateful!"

"But Sakura-chan!"

Then another person interrupted the heated argument.

"Yo!" Mr. Hatake popped out getting the attention of his three students while still reading his little orange book. "You know…" he droned, "If I were to have a shouting match I would do it where no one can hear me," he said but then shrugged it off, "but that's just me."

As on cue, everyone that was crowding the trio looked away, pretending they were doing something else.

"Hn," Sasuke let out, giving Naruto an indignant glare before turning away. "Don't expect me to baby you when you realize who your real friends are."

"NA-RU-TO!" Sakura seethed, "look what you did"

"Sakura!" Naruto shouted but later lowered the volume of his voice. His knuckles were trembling with the urge to knock somebody's teeth out. And in the hardest tone he had ever used on Sakura he said, "This is between Sasuke and me. Next time don't interfere" Still, the anger in his voice was evident enough to make her flinch back.

While Sasuke walked out on them, Sakura and Naruto kept staring at each other and the later was starting to regret lashing out at her. He finally managed to see the outfit she would've worn in her date with him. It was a long red dress that pressed against her figure. It was open at both sides, from her ankle to her mid thigh so that she could walk and dance with it. The dress had neither sleeves nor cleavage, not that Sakura had much to show in the first place. And not that Naruto minded. He could care less about the size of jugs as long as they were on her. No matter her size, it would look perfect for him.

But when he got to her face he really regretted it. She was biting her bottom lip and her green eyes were starting to water. Trembling as if she had really taken a fright to the tone he had used on her. Now it was his eyes that were starting to water. He had never ever wanted to be the reason she would shed a tear.

"Naruto…" she said making a move to touch him but then drew her hand back and puffed her cheeks, "Fine!" she shouted, "But don't you ruin this dance for me!" And with that she whipped back and followed in Sasuke's direction.

"Sakura-chan I'm sor" he started but Kakashi interrupted it.

"Let it go, Naruto," he said placing a hand on his student's shoulder, "Another shouting match and I will be forced to remove you." He warned before ruffling his blond hair and walking away.

"But Sakura-chan…"

He hated being harsh on her. He shouldn't have used that tone on her. She didn't even touch him to hit him.

Sakura Haruno was one of Naruto's highest goals, Presidency next to that. He would do anything, and everything, just for her happiness and for her acknowledgment. He would risk his safety in major combat for her. Gaara had been an example of that. And he would back down and make way for Sasuke because that's what Sakura would want.

It seemed that no matter what he did, she always remained far from his grasp, almost unreachable but no less desirable.

The Heaven to his Earth

But Naruto was sure Sakura would come around one day. He wouldn't give up, he would reach her one day. It was just that today had been an emotional rollercoaster. He needed to apologize. _"Everything's been my fault to begin with."_ He thought, _"Sasuke and Sakura and now angry with me because I always shout when I'm frustrated. Damn it why do I keep making one mistake after the other."_

**-x-x-(At the snack table)-x-x-**

Shino came back, cleaning his hands as he informed his date, Hinata, that the toad had been safely removed from the premises. The Hyuuga girl thanked him but still stared worriedly at the snack bar. Naruto had been playing with a brownie for a good eight minutes and had a far-off expression on his face. He looked depressed and she felt like if she should say something.

Shino noticed her lingering stare and gently pushed her towards the blond, stopping only when she made contact with the depressed looking teen.

"Na-Naruto," the shy Hyuuga said, turning three shades of pink for bumping into him. Now he was staring at her with those deep blue eyes of his and she knew he was waiting for her to say something. "I-I…" she started playing with her fingers to keep herself from clamming up, "Y-You look nice" she finished, hanging her head down. That was not what she wanted to say.

"Eh?" he said turning fully to her and then smiled, "Thanks. You look nice too."

"T-Thanks," she replied weakly, and as she continued speaking her voice kept becoming progressively weaker. "I-I was there when you threw that toad at Ami," she informed, her face now three shades of red, "Ino's lu-lucky you're her d-date. You're always strong and-and loyal."

"Do you really think that?" he asked genuinely curious about why would she think that way about him. "I might appear strong to you but… I always screw up and I act strong because I'm fed up with always failing."

"That's not true," she voiced almost shouting. Then she blushed even redder and took two steps back before continuing. "Even though you always make mistakes… in my eyes you're a proud failure" she admitted, "When I look at you I get an intense feeling in my heart. Because… you're not perfect. Because even when you fail you have the strength to get back up, and I-I believe that's what true strength is". She stopped playing with her fingers, not believing that she was actually saying what she had wanted to tell him for the longest time. And with that same resolve she took three steps forward and said "I think you're an incredibly strong person, Naruto-kun".

"Hinata…" Naruto said in a hushed voice, staring at the girl that had just finished a sentence without stuttering once. It's amazing the effect words can have in people, and for Naruto, it felt like if the looming darkness inside of him had been forcefully repelled by a tiny ray of light, and that light was Hinata. He could feel that light seeping into his being, and all the little insecurities that resided within him were now dissipating and being replaced with courage."

"Thanks Hinata," he said, laughing boisterously because he felt like if he had just overcome what little insecurities he had. "I guess I was feeling a bit depressed over nothing. But now I feel great." He assured, grinning at the girl that had lifted his spirits. She had shared what she thought of him so he felt like if he should return the favor.

"You know, about you," he said, scratching the back of his head as he searched for the words he wanted to use, "I thought you were a dark timid and weird person. Every time I look at you, you always look away. But you know something… a person like you I really like."

*the music stops*

"Uzumaki," an ominous presence announced behind him. Naruto had to gulped and plaster a forced smile on his face before turning around.

"Oh hi, Ne-Neji,"

"Quiet, you," Neji said, positioning himself before Tenten before addressing the blond troublemaker. "Remain quiet and observe as the basics of waltz." The air around the male Hyuuga simply demanded Naruto's complete and utter attention. Anything else would be taken as an insult to Neji's limited generosity.

"First, get into position with your partner," Neji showed this by placing his right hand on TenTen's waist, slightly around her back, and extending his left hand to his side with his elbow bent and palm raised, facing her. With that hand, he grasped her right hand in a loose grip, making sure she had her left hand on his right shoulder, with her elbow bent.

"In this position she will be able to mirror your movements". He clarified, earning some acknowledging "ohhs" from Naruto.

"On the first beat, step forward gracefully with your left foot. Your partner should follow your lead by doing the opposite of what you do on each beat," Neji showed and Tenten explained, "In other words; the girl has to step back with her right foot".

"Now pay attention to the footwork" Neji commanded imposingly, "This is what'll you do on the second beat."

On the second beat, Neji stepped forward and then to the right with his right foot, tracing an upside-down letter "L" in the air with his foot as he did this. He later shifted his weight to his right foot, keeping his left foot stationary.

On the third beat, he slid his left foot over to his right and stood with his feet together.

On the fourth beat, he stood back with his right foot.

On the following beat, he stood back and slid to the left with his left foot, this time tracing a backward L.

And on the final beat, he glided his right foot toward his left until his feet were together again.

"Repeat these steps two times again and…" Neji stopped when he noticed the look on the Uzumaki's face. The long haired brunet didn't have to be a mind reader to tell that Naruto had already forgotten what the steps were. _"Figures, he is more of the muscle memory type",_ he cleared his throat before addressing the shorter male again. "I don't expect you to remember the moves but at least now you have a general idea."

"Let's go, Tenten," he announced then, extending his arm for her to grab, "Lee can't be left alone for more than nine minutes in a place filled with spiked beverages."

"N-Neji!" Naruto called, stopping the brunet's movements by grabbing his other arm. "I just wanted to say… erm… thanks!"

"Very well," Neji said, acknowledging the gratitude before shrugging Naruto's hands off. "But I do suggest that you clean your hands before touching somebody else. Do not believe for one second that I did not witness how you summoned that toad."

"Yeah yeah, whatever," the toad summoner chuckled as he watch the uptight junior leave with Tenten. Now all Naruto had to do was wash his hands before he could go searching for a table where his date, Shikamaru, Chouji, and himself could sit. Speaking of dates…

"Ne, Hinata, who's your date?" he asked but received no answer. Hinata was still in euphoria because Naruto had said he really liked people like her.

"Her date would be me," Shino answered, causing Naruto to stare at him for a whole minute. Shino almost sweat-dropped before answering "Yes, Naruto, I've been here the entire time."

"Oh, oops, hehe, didn't see you there" the blond chuckled, feeling guilty. _"Damn, this guy IS creepy. He always blends with the background and I never see him unless he speaks to me first."_ "Oh well, gotta go. See ya!"

And as Naruto walked out, a brunet with red triangular tats walked in.

Kiba showed up dressed pretty much in the same manner than Naruto, the only exception was that he chose to wear a dark red dress shirt instead.

"Sorry for being late," he said stopping when he noticed Hinata's great impersonation of an inanimate object. He waved his hand twice in front of her face without getting any reaction. He turned towards Shino and pointed at the girl with his thumb, "Naruto, right?"

Shino didn't have to nod, the answer was already obvious.

"So where's Naruto by the way?" Kiba asked looking around, "I bet he's dancing with Sakura." He said grabbing Hinata's hand, "C'mon, let's see if we can sneak a dance with them."

It took Shino one second to realize Kiba didn't know Sakura's date was Sasuke, two seconds to realize that Kiba also didn't know that Ino was Naruto's date, and three seconds to noticed that Kiba had just stolen his date away.

"…"

He grabbed a glass of water and stared at his reflection before asking himself the question that had always plagued him.

"Why do people always walk out on me?"

**-x-x-(Back to dinner table #7)-x-x-**

Sakura had been staring and asking him if he was okay every two minutes. It was annoying him but he understood that she was worried.

Sasuke hated it every time a window to his emotions would open up like that. Because every time it did, he was reminded of how utterly lonely he felt. It was always him standing alone in a crowd of people who always stared at him like if he was made of crystal. People who were always trying to bask themselves in his essence whereas his family, the people he wanted acknowledgement from, ignored him in favor of Itachi.

That's why Sasuke didn't bother to see off his parents. They were taking a plane to go to Itachi's conference with congressman Danzo.

Naruto had been the only one who had made Sasuke's stay in Konoha remotely bearable. The prankster had wanted to be around him because of who he was, not because of what he meant. Naruto was in it for "Sasuke," not for "Uchiha".

"_Why the fuck am I feeling nostalgic?"_

For now, he would react to the situation like he did every time he felt his feelings seeping out. With a bored face and "hn" annoyance.

**-x-x-(Back to dinner table #12)-x-x-**

Temari came back from dancing with Shikamaru and was pleasantly surprised that he could dance so well. So well in fact that she didn't let him walk out just after one dance. He complained about it, a lot in fact, but she never let it get to her. She could complain about men just as much as he could complain about women. So if it was a complaining competition he wanted she was going to give it to him.

Speaking about competitions, she heard someone announce over the intercom that right after meal, there was going to be a dance-off. _"Shikamaru and I could win this. Then I can come home and wave my crown at Kankuro_." It was settled, she liked her plan. She could win this for sure.

She sat at her table, next to her little brother and fixed her napkin on her lap. She turned to the side to check that Gaara had done the same but she was caught off guard by the tiniest of smiles on his hairless porcelain face.

Gaara wasn't the type that smiled. The only times she ever caught him smiling was right after he rammed the bleeding shits out of someone and buried the evidence.

Gaara smiling was never a good sign.

"Gaara," Temari let out through gritted teeth, "We came here to have nice and harmless fun. There better not be a reason for the police to raid our house tomorrow while I'm taking my morning bath."

Gaara's tiny smile faltered and he glared at the women beside him.

Temari glared back.

The glaring continued until Gaara got up growling. "Fine!" He gave in to her demands, looking very agitated with her. "I'll release him from his prison."

Temari sighed. She knew it. Gaara _had_ beaten the living daylights out of someone.

**-x-x-(Dinner table #10)-x-x-**

Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino and Naruto had been eating their dinner quietly, when the female finally snapped at her fellow blond who had been staring at her intently ever since she started eating.

"Spill it already!"

"Um, it's nothing."

"Just say it, I know it's something."

"You're plate is empty."

"What are you talking about? Can't you see the salad?"

"But that's not enough, that won't fill you up, it ain't healthy."

"Healthy? Say the guy that eats instant ramen ten times a week! That much condense sodium cannot be good for your system".

"What? God made the ramen for us! We should appreciate it as much as we can."

"God made the…. Haha…hahaha… oh my god how can you say something like that, hahaha… mmm?"

When the fork was removed from her mouth she felt Naruto's hands motion her jaw to chew and then a finger lifted her head and traced from her jaw to her throat. The action itself making her swallow the food.

*gulps*

"Hehe, made you eat chicken," he said, using a knife to pour a quarter of his plate into hers, "trust me, it's good."

"Seesh, Naruto," she sighed, "You got no table etiquette". She then sighed again as she stared at her full plate. "But you're right, it does taste good"

The rest of the time passed with no further interruptions when guys had already finished their plates. They were just waiting for Ino to finish hers. True, if Naruto hadn't given her that extra chicken she would've finished a long time ago but at least those three knew that their place was to wait for her.

But just as she was to grab her last piece of chicken, Chouji placed his fork on her plate, making a grab for her chicken.

"Chouji!" she fought his fork with hers but he moved the plate away from her and stole it.

"The last bite," Chouji said ceremoniously, "Is the final one and the most suitable one to enjoy the most." Then he gave a cocky grin, "No matter the cost, I will not give it up." And then he ate it.

Ino was seething. "What the heck are you acting so cool for? You idiot! That's why everybody makes fun of you, you fa…!"

"Ino," Shikamaru interjected clearly not amused by the exchange, "that word it taboo." Then he turned to his other friend, "And Chouji, eating isn't a battle. Why don't you relax when you're eating?"

Naruto watched the exchange and noticed that even though they were arguing, they had not hit each other once.

"Chouji," Ino let out, her angry mood disappearing slowly as she spoke, "You have a nice character but you really should care about how much you eat. You need to diet a little, like I do."

Naruto turned to face Ino but it was Chouji who voiced what they were both thinking, "Why are you dieting, Ino?"

"A girl wants to look good for the guy she likes," she answered as if it was rehearsed. It was probably what she told herself every time she dieted.

"But what if the person doesn't like thin girls?"

"In the end, guys always like girls who aren't fa… uh, I mean, who are thin. The same goes for the opposite." She said eyeing him, hoping that her words would sink in him. Then she laughed, "Cho, you should care a little bit about your looks, or else no one will like you."

Shikamaru decided to interject again. "You have no idea, do you Ino? Guys don't like skinny girls as much as you think. The most preferred ones are the well-rounded girls. And the same goes for the opposite, right?" he paid back Ino.

"As if," she huffed and turned to Naruto so that he could back her up but noticed that sometime within in their little argument Naruto's eyes had drifted to Sasuke and Sakura's table and he was staring at them longingly.

She pinched his right cheek.

"Tah, what was that for?" he asked, rubbing his cheek.

"Nothing," she sighed and Chouji laughed a little at her expense. "I guess Shikamaru was right, the most preferred ones are the well-rounded ones."

"Then why are you so happy?" Ino retorted, "You are anything but well-rounded! You're fat!"

And at that Ino and Chouji started bickering with one another again. Shikamaru sighed and said, "Nag, nag, nag. That's all women know how to do. That's why I don't want a girlfriend."

"Eh?" Naruto said his eyes going over Ino before returning them to Shikamaru, "They can't be all bad. I'd like a girlfriend."

"Your funeral, Naruto." Shikamaru responded as he stifled a yawn, "I personally would like to spend the rest of my days alone with an average job, living an average life, just laying on the grass as the clouds go by. But I know that's not going to happen."

He sighed again, as he remembered the direction his life would probably take him to. Ino and Choiji stopped their bickering to hear this.

"I will probably marry someone who is not too ugly and not too pretty. She'll probably be a nagging wife, though. Have two children, first a girl, then a boy. Retire after my daughter is married and my son becomes a successful businessman, and spend the rest of my life playing Chess or Bingo. Then die of old age before my wife."

Both Naruto and Ino tried to their best not to laugh at how Shikamaru, with such a straight face, had explained how his life would be. But then waltz music started playing and that was Ino's cue to get down to business.

"Oh that dance is about the start. Let's go Naruto." she said hoisting him up.

Shikamaru sighed in relief. Now with those two bothersome blondes gone, he could finally catch up on his nap.

"Ahem," he heard someone say from behind him. He turned around and was met with another blonde.

"_Fuck my luck,"_

"So…" Temari drawled, "gonna ask me to dance?"

He didn't respond.

Temari, of course, didn't _need_ him to. Without missing a beat, she cheerily extended her hand to him.

More silence.

"_Temari… subtle as a rhino and scarier than my mom"_

**-x-x-The Dance-x-x-**

As people had already expected, the first dance was indeed a waltz. From the decent numbers of participants, only two couples glided effortlessly though the level of dance. Sasuke and Sakura, and Neji and Tenten.

The ones who danced averagely still survived the competition, but those who danced poorly were quickly eliminated by a panel of judges consisting of Maito Gai, Nurse Shizune, Iruka Umino, Anko "Sex on Legs" Mitarashi and Principal Tsunade.

The next dance session featured Latin genres like merengue and salsa. Many contestants were filtered out after that. The audience and the panel of judges, however, were genuinely impressed when they saw Shikamaru, the guy who literally slept through exams because he found the act of lifting a pencil too much of a hassle, dancing with a hot older lady whose identity was unknown. He was actually exerting energy!

It was during the funky music of the 80s that Naruto started gaining momentum with Ino. Dancing silly came easy for him, and on him it seemed almost natural. Sasuke struggled through that round. Fun funky music felt awkward on him.

On the last round, Mrs. Anko Mitarashi had shoved the DJ away and pressed the volume on some heavy club music. She wanted some damn excitement on the floor. Needless to say that when the girls started pressing their bodies against the boys, Neji auto-eliminated himself, and consequently Tenten. He found the dance disrespected the female body and he would not partake on such an act.

Tenten, although looking like if she wanted to grab a fistful of his hair, wrap it around his neck and pull hard, voiced no complains about his uprightness.

Signaling the end of the competition, Principal Tsunade grabbed the microphone and called the following students to step on the stage. "Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, Shikamaru Nara and his date, and Naruto Uzumaki and Ino Yamanaka".

The music was still playing softly as the six contenders climbed to the stage. A loud screeching sound was heard when Sasuke passed by the speakers, and little did he know, his cell phone started lighting up uncontrollably because of it.

Anko, swiping the mike away from the Principal, paced through the contenders like if they were on a game show. It was obvious by the way she walked that she was a little tipsy. She grabbed the first couple and said, "Let's hear it for the prick and his pinky!"

There was a loud round of applause and many girls shouting, "Sasuke-kun!"

"Now let's hear it for the skanky and beasty blond duo!"

They received a mixture of applauses, catcalls, and whistles. Some guys where even sending "hollers".

Temari took this chance to finally take a good glimpse at her completion. To her right she was a dark haired guy who oozed superiority. He made her blush a little. He was definitely the local hottie. To her right she found the mystery guy with the scarred face. _"He must be the 'Naruto'. He isn't that unfortunate looking, though."_

"Okay, now let's hear it for the lazy one and his hot older lady!"

Temari was about to retort at the 'older lady' comment when she was met with a loud reception from the male half of the student body.

"It seems we have a winner!" Anko announced and people applauded them to no end. Yet the celebration was cut short when there was another loud distortion in the speakers that sounded like a cell phone ringing. This time Sasuke did notice that his cell phone was acting weird. As well that Madara was calling him. When he opened it up to answer, he and everybody else heard Madara's voice over the speakers.

"Sasuke, can you hear me? There's some news I have to tell you."

"Hold it," Sasuke answered, walking off of the stage because he didn't need others eavesdropping on his conversation. Apparently the speakers had somehow connected to the frequency of his cell phone. Unfortunately he didn't even make it to the first step when Madara's voice sang through the speakers again.

"This can't wait Sasuke. There was a plane crash. Your parents are dead."

If time could freeze, it literally did for Sasuke and the rest of the school, who went silent at the news.

Shaking, Sasuke brought the phone back to ear level and asked in a barely audible voice,

"…what?"

_**-x-x-x- (End of Chapter Twelve: "Because I'm your friend") -x-x-x- **_

**A/N:** My longest chapter so far. I keep telling myself "I'll make my next chapter shorter" but it somehow always gets longer. So I do apologize for my inconsistency in chapter lengths. I think I need somebody to start beta-ing my chapters. Anyways, the dance ended and neither Team Ino nor Team Sasuke won. So for the record let's say that only Shikamaru and Temari made it Chunnin. Ohh, and Hinata also made her pre-shippuden confession to Naruto! It's a shame I couldn't add Jiraiya to this chapter. That pervert would've been really proud of Naruto here.

The "Sasuke Arc" will come to its conclusion on the next chapter, so have me on alert for that, okay?

**PS: **Yes, cannon-character's death will occur in this fic. And I already made it obvious Kurenai was pregnant… lulz I'm joking! I'm not going to kill Asuma-sensei! (Or am I?)

Read and discuss.


	13. No Rain, No Rainbow

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _NARUTO_, I'm only an avid fan and I swear this will be the last long running anime I become a fan of.

**A/N:** Sorry for not updating a single chapter throughout the semester. Big "thanks" to everybody that PM me to "Sit my Ass down and start Typing" You made my day. Let's see… what else?

**OrangeBackpack**asked, "… are you going to add more characters to the plot? I would really want to see minor characters from the manga become something much more in your story."

**My Answer: **Yes, I will. Something I like about _NARUTO_ is it's variety of great characters with the potential to be something more if given the chance. That's part of the reason I dislike OCs in **Naruto Fanfics**. Why is there even a need to create an original character when the series already has so much to choose from?

**WARNING: **This chapter feels sort of rushed for me but I didn't want to postpone it any longer. Please don't hold it against me.

**Brief Recap:** Shikamaru and Temari won Dance King and Queen. Naruto and Ino might just have the hots for each other. Sasuke's parents died on an airplane.

_**-x-x-x-x-x-(Remember all the things we wanted. Now all the memories they haunted. We were always meant to say goodbye)-x-x-x-x-x-**_

**(T_T) (q_p)(T_T) (q_p)(T_T) (q_p)(T_T) (q_p)**

_**A phone call between brothers…**_

"Itachi… why was it so important for them to get on that plane?"

"I… wanted them to witness my skills… to measure them."

"So you're saying that our parents left because you wanted to… measure your skills?"

"…It was of great importance,"

"…I hate you"

"…I know"

"No, you don't. I swear that the next time I see you I'll let you know just how much I hate you."

"Forgive me, Sasuke, but there won't be a next time."

**(T_T) (q_p)(T_T) (q_p)(T_T) (q_p)(T_T) (q_p)**

**Chapter Thirteen: "No Rain, No Rainbow"**

"Sakura!"

It had been about a week since the dance ended, leaving the hands of time at a standstill, or more accurately speaking, the hands of time were trapped in an endless interval, the last five minutes of the dance replaying themselves over and over on everyone that witnessed it. It was the same atmosphere, the same tension, the same depression and the same guilt.

"Sakura!"

No one has seen or heard from Sasuke since then. The newspapers, the TV reports, Facebook, My Space, YouTube, Twitter and even CNN had broadcasted that one of the most influential and lucrative families had just lost some of its leaders. But none of those reports had any actual footage of Sasuke. He had closed himself to the world and nobody had been able to reach him.

"Sakura!"

The corpses of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha had been found a day after the crash, and by Sasuke's decision, cremated. That much had been made public.

"Sakura!" Mr. Umino called again, this time snapping the young girl out of her dazed demeanor.

"So-Sorry, Iru… I mean Mr. Umino," Sakura apologized, bowing her head in shame, "what was the question again?"

The teacher rubbed his temples and let out an exasperated sigh before answering, "I know that my classes can get a little boring from time to time, but it is important that you stay awake for them." He then pointed his ruler at Kin and asked her to answer the question he had asked Sakura. Kin answered correctly, and while Mr. Umino turned his attention back to the blackboard, Kin made a shot at Sakura by saying, "Maybe you would've known the answer if you had focused more on your studies instead of on keeping your hair artificially pink."

That comments earned her some approving snickers from Dosu and Zaku, and some glares from Ino and Naruto.

Sakura just bowed her head in shame again and tried her best to pay attention to the remainder of the class. But trying to keep her mind from drifting off had been hard to do recently. Especially when the boy she always tried to impress with her grades wasn't even there to see her excel.

"Pssst," Naruto whispered from behind her, "pssst, Sakura, are you…"

"Shhh, Naruto!" Sakura whispered back, "I'm trying to pay attention,"

"But Sakura…" Naruto whined a little too loudly, his voice audible to Iruka's ears. Said teacher mentally sighed at this but he couldn't afford to give his loudmouth student any preferential treatment, at least within school hours. So clearing his throat he turned to his student and asked, "What was that, Naruto? You know how to solve this equation?"

"Ah um," The blonde looked around, hoping to find somebody who'll whisper him the answer. Kiba shrugged, Chouji shook his head and Shikamaru, his best bet, was asleep. Conclusion, he was doomed unless he pulled a fast one on Iruka Umino. He reached for his a pocket and pulled out a…

"Arcsin 5/12!" Hinata shouted, earning the stares of everyone. She gulped, and in a voice that got progressively weaker as she reiterated her answer she said, "The an-answer is ac-arcsin 5/12"

"That's the answer," Mr. Umino admitted as he pointed his rules at her, "but remember that we are in a classroom. If you want to answer please raise your hand and I'll call you."

"Y-Yes," Hinata answered, hiding her face behind her bangs in an effort to appear invisible to the world. Once the teacher continued with a lecture, she heard Shino whisper, "It seems Naruto wants to tell you something."

Her eyes wandered to Naruto's desk and she saw him mouth a "Thank You" to her. She blushed.

Immediately all of their peers started speculating and adding their two cents on how unusual it was for the usually shy princess to speak up, and to protect the frog prince no less. This created a fuss filled with squeals and nods. Mr. Umino could already tell he was in a losing battle for the attention of his students, so throwing in the metaphoric white towel he said, "Class dismissed."

At that the students were quick to pile out, except for Naruto who stayed glued to his seat, staring forlornly at Sakura's empty one. Mr. Umino approached his blond student and resolved to scratch the scar that ran across his nose as he waited for Naruto to open up.

"Sakura-chan spaced out again," Naruto said.

Iruka had already known of that though, Sakura's decreasing attention span had been mentioned more than once at the faculty lounge. As their teacher, he felt he should aid his students or at the very least advice them but he just didn't know how to approach her. Thankfully Naruto was much easier to lecture.

"I'm sure Sakura will pull through whatever she's going," The teacher said with a hint of optimism, "She's a smart girl. You too are smart. You'll figure it out."

"Hope so," Naruto said, picking up his books dejectedly. "Later, Iruka-sensei" he said, leaving without the usual bounce of his steps, unknowingly making Iruka feel like a failed father.

"Naruto!" Iruka shouted soon after, "Just talk to her!"

"Just talk?" Naruto asked mid-stride, staring at his teacher with a glimpse of hope, "That easy?"

"That easy," the teacher assured, "Communication is key"

-x-x-x-The Following Days-x-x-x-

Things between the two students had gotten gloomier, with Sakura seemingly distracted and with Naruto trying and failing to approach her. Both of them had been called out by their teachers numerous times during classes but to no long-standing avail. It just kept repeating itself. One would think these two needed to be called to the office for a good lecturing but it was not them who were called.

It was someone else

Sitting at the right was Mrs. Shizune, filing worriedly the papers of her students. She looked nervous and unconvinced about the step of action that was being taken. At the left was Mr. Iruka Umino, sitting by the desk like a concerned parent waiting to hear the news. He was, after all, the one that had suggested the meeting.

Sitting between the two was the highest power at Konoha High, Principal Tsunade. She carefully picked up the file Mrs. Shizune handed her and reviewed it with clinical bias/precision before landing cynic eyes at her guest student. "Do you know why we called you here, Mrs. Yamanaka?"

"Um," Ino looked down to make sure every button of her five-button up blouse were adjusted, "It's not about the dress-code, right?"

Mr. Iruka shook his head acutely and answered, "We called you here to talk about the recent lack of academic concentration of your classmates Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki"

Ino wanted to roll her eyes at that and say _"What am I, their baby-sitter?"_ but kept quiet and simply nodded in understanding. Ino knew she wasn't in a position to argue, Principal Tsunade had her poker face on and was about to speak again.

"Student President and Class Rep Ino Yamanaka," she said emphasizing the titles, "As you are aware two of your classmates are taking a path of academic self-destruction. If they don't start taking their coursework seriously the faculty will have to take academic action. Harsh academic action." She assured. "Seeing as how the source of their distraction seemed to be linked to a common friend who is currently unavailable to us, we deemed that the best remedy for friendship problems is friendship itself. I'm sure you, as well as your other peers, will be willing to look after Sakura and Naruto's well being. Am I correct?"

Ino took her time analyzing what her superior had just implied. Basically it was an indirect threat. In short, the faculty wanted Ino to hold a class meeting to do something to lift the spirits of Sakura and Naruto. And that if nothing was done quickly, the faculty would not only be forced to fail both students but Ino's standing as a class representative and friend would also be held up for scrutiny.

"We shouldn't do this," Mrs. Shizune interjected, filing out more papers, "Shouldn't our first course of action be to inform their parents. Here I found the numbers to Sakura's"

"Shizune!" Principal Tsunade shouted, landing a fist on her desk. The sound of flesh connecting hard with wood echoed through the office and the adjacent halls. Shizune squeaked out of her chair and Ino had to dodge the splinters. "Call the parents?" Tsunade asked as if offended by the suggestion, "Did you skip the part in Naruto's file where it mentioned that he was an orphan?"

"N-No Lady Tsunade," stuttered the school nurse, "B-But in his case we could always call his legal guardian."

"We can't," she responded with grave undertone, "Jiraiya is nowhere near Naruto at the moment, and we can't call him back from doing business. You know as well as I do that for Naruto's sake its best that Jiraiya finishes his business."

This time it was Iruka who flooded the Principal with his concerns. "You mean to say that Naruto is living alone?! How can anyone permit this? Is he even eating right? No kid his age should be living alone in this state. Why hasn't anyone taken any action about his-"

"Enough!" The Principal shouted again after denting her desk with another one of her powerful blows. She ran her middle fingers across her hairline, traveling from her forehead all the way to her golden pigtails before walking to her window to stare at the outdoors of Konoha High. Giving her back to her three visitors she said, "I know I'm taking a big gamble here, but I believe it is for the best. I've been running this school for quite some time now and I believe I have seen enough problems like this to know how to solve them."

"Ino Yamanaka," Tsunade said, "What will you do?"

"Leave it to me, I'll fix them up." Ino announced, laughing nervously soon after, "If I may be excused." She said as she hastily reached for the door only to be stopped by one final word from the authority of Konoha High.

"And Mrs. Ino, succeed at this and I might overlook your outfit's indiscretions," Tsunade announced narrowing her eyes at her alumni, "particularly the little black dress you wore at the dance."

The class rep nodded twice before escaping the office for a huge breather.

"_Geez,"_ Ino thought,_ "Of course I agreed. My life was on the line there. She almost split that desk in two!" _

But that was now a thing of the past, and Ino had to concentrate on the present, or to be more precise, on her mission. She had to get Sakura and Naruto out of their depressed funk which basically meant she'll have to resort to her mind games. _"Seesh, and I was planning on taking a backseat on scheming."_

But first things first, she unbuttoned the first two and last buttons of her blouse, making sure the V-shape of her chest was exposed. Now she could feel again the breeze on her upper body as she strutted though the halls.

"God I feel liberated."

-x-x-x-That very same day-x-x-x-

"Finally!" Naruto groaned out, relieved that he was done with school for the day. Hinata had stopped him on his way out and in her own timid way insisted he do some of his schoolwork with her at the library. It had taken a good hour and a half but Neji had ended the session by escorting his cousin away, muttering something about bossy pony-tailed blondes needing to find somebody else's cousin to boss around into giving free tutoring.

Now all Naruto had to do was stop by Icharaku's on his way home and he could call it a day. But that's when he saw Sakura standing alone at the Gates of Konoha High, angrily pressing the numbers of her cell phone.

Blue eyes scoped the area to his right and then to his left. The only face he could recognize was hers. It was just her, and him. _"Sweet!"_

"Sakura-chan!" he cheered, stopping at her side, "Can we-"

"Not now Naruto," Sakura snapped quickly, pulling her phone to her ear, "Mom? Yeah but… I'm not going to wait that long… fine, I'll walk!" she finished, ending the call. She then gave Naruto a good stare and asked, "What?"

"Eh…," He wanted to ask if she was feeling alright but the answer was obvious, so he asked the next best thing that came to mind, "Wanna grab a bite with me?" He did, after all, hungry and had a coupon for a free shrimp ramen.

Sakura responded, "No thanks, I have to walk home before it gets late," as she waved goodbye and officially ended their short lived conversation. Or at least she thought she did. Naruto fell into step beside her and gave her one of his widest cheek splitting grins, "Hey Sakura-chan, let me walk you home." he offered, with an extra bounce to his step "It's been a while since I visited ne?"

"It has," Sakura concurred, making the boy's face brighten with a smile "a visit would be nice."

"Alright!" Naruto bellowed, walking closer to the girl of his affections. They kept walking at an even pace, and as they rounded each corner, he kept moving in closer and closer to her. So close that the back of their hands starting brushing. His objective? To hold her hand. _"Just a little more,"_ he thought as the back of his hand made contact with hers again. Then his fingers made contact with hers, and finally, her fist made contact with the back of his head.

Next thing he knew his face was planted on the pavement. The only sound his brain registered before the seething pain was a high resounding "CHA!"

Naruto got up to complain about him being in an abusive relationship which was met with complaints from Sakura about him being too forward and impulsive. Yet their usual banter came to a swift stop when they heard the air resistance being applied on a low flying airplane, and just like that the mood of the two changed.

"I'd better leave," The female announced, picking up her pace again.

"Hey wait!" The male shouted after her, "You really shouldn't be walking home alone." He insisted.

"Nah, it's broad daylight, I'll be alright." She replied dismissively.

"But… Sakura-chan?"

"Thanks Naruto, really. But I kinda like to be on my own right now."

"But…," he sighed, she could be as stubborn as he was, and he would likely end up with a concussion if he kept insisting.

"I'll be fine, okay," she assured, waving goodbye before giving him her back. Naruto just stood there watching her leave.

"Bye… Sakura,"

-x-x-x-At the Uchiha Residence-x-x-x-

It was a rather long walk but Sakura finally found herself at his door's step. She was about to knock but opted to make a quick phone call first, to say she was visiting. She was being silly, she knew she could just ring the doorbell but she felt the need to stall a little. His number was dialed but in return she only received the answering machine. "Just like Sasuke-kun not to personalize his voicemail".

She knocked on the door, and quickly fixed her hair and skirt. She was getting nervous there at the front porch, _"what if the words don't come out right?"_ she thought as the door opened. She fixed herself a smile and said "hi".

But it was not Sasuke who answered.

Instead there was a tall person, his body hidden within a dark coat with red clouds that ran all the way down to his ankles. But what caught her off guard was the bright orange mask he was wearing. It had spiral-like carvings, like some sort of hurricane (shippuden) that found its center around the visible red right eye of the person.

"Hi!" greeted enthusiastically the man in the orange mask, raising his right hand to wave hello. "I'm Tobi!"

"Oh… hi," Sakura responded meekly, the man's bouncy persona making her temporarily forget why she was there. "I-I'm Sakura, a friend of Sasuke-kun. Is he here?"

"Sasuke has friend? I'll go get him. Tobi is a fast boy!" He said enthusiastically, slamming the door shut soon after.

"_**Hell Yeah!" **_Inner Sakura howled with great joy and pride, she was getting to see Sasuke, _**"This fairy tale is for real!"**_ She quickly pressed her ear to the door, eagerly hoping to hear her favorite Uchiha approach it.

Sakura could hear the man with the orange mask running up the stairs, tripping, falling off them, climbing them again, and after the short moment of silence, she could hear somebody running down the stairs and thrusting open the front door.

It was the man in the orange mask again, breathing heavily as if he had run a marathon. "Hi!" he said, pumping both his fist up in the air, "Tobi went to get Sasuke but…," he singsang, "Sasuke doesn't want to take visitors right now. Try again later. Bye!" And then he slammed the door close on her face, leaving Sakura slightly disoriented for a short while. She wasn't sure what she had just witnessed happening but apparently there was some sort of freak convention being held today and Sasuke wasn't in the mood to see anyone.

"It's okay," she said to herself, "I'll just have to try again later, that's all."

-x-x-x-The very next day-x-x-x-

"And my reputation is at stake!" Ino complained, making it seem like if the world was against her. She was expecting Shikamaru to say something along the lines of "That's so unfair Ino, how can I help you?" but the response she got was a lazy yawn.

"…"

Storing the victim act for someone more susceptible to it, she decided to do what she should've done in the first place. And that was to bark orders and flood Shikamaru with half of her responsibility.

"Troublesome Ino, it's your problem not mine. I don't see why I should get involved."

"Shame on you, Shika," Ino responded, placing her hand on her hip and stomping on the floor as she began to whine. "I'm always helping you out with stuff but I ask you for one little favor and you can't behave like a decent friend? Sometimes I think you take our friendship for granted."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at that. He could think of handful of times where he had to go out of his way to help her out. In fact, the time she made him dress fancy only to ditch him the night of the dance and the time she had him call the guys over just so she could flaunt her bikini clad body on the beach were still fresh on his mind. But he knew that if said that then she would accuse him of holding grudges and then she'll say something about how girls find that quality very unattractive on guys. And then she would go on about other unattractive attributes he possesses.

In short, it was too much of a drag to go against her wishes, so sighing in defeat he said, "Fine, I'll handle Naruto but you handle Sakura. I don't really understand girls and I definitely don't want to test my luck with her. I sometimes think she's schizophrenic"

"Thank you Shika!" She said happily in a cutesy voice that reminded him of the voice she uses whenever she gets what she wants from her dad. Yeah, he knew he got played, again.

"Oh and Ino," he said pausing to yawn again, "While we're in the subject of Naruto… I don't really like involving myself in girl-talk but lately they've been calling Naruto 'the frog prince'. Do you know why?"

Ino just smiled. Of course she knew. She was the one that spread it. After Naruto had saved her from Ami at the dance, Ino felt like doing something extra to help her fellow blond out with the girls. And girls are suckers for fairytale princes. "Oh Shika, let's just say I always take care of those who help me out."

-x-x-x-After the final bell that day-x-x-x-

As the students left their classrooms in search for that diversion that will postpone them from doing actual homework, math teacher Iruka stopped Naruto before he could join the lazy wagon. The nose scarred teacher just wanted to make sure his cheeks scarred student was feeling better. But then again, he knew how teenagers needed their personal space. So reminding himself that he was just another of Naruto's teachers, and not his father, instead of asking the teen if he was okay he said, "Say Naruto, have you been doing your homework lately?"

"Uh…" Naruto stopped midstride to gape at his teacher before so very unconvincingly answering, "Yeah…?"

"Naruto!"

"Okay okay, I haven't done _all_ of it yet."

"As a teacher I worry about my students, I don't want you to fall behind. That being said…" He said switching his stern teacher voice to playful one, "get yours and Sasuke's things. I'll drive"

"Huh?"

"Well Sasuke is also one of my students. He is going to fall behind if someone doesn't bring him his homework, right?"

Naruto's face brightened up at that notion and eagerly went to grab his and Sasuke's books. Iruka felt like patting himself in the back, and he would've done so if he hadn't spotted his silver haired colleague knowingly shaking his head at him. Kakashi didn't even need to say, Iruka already knew it. _"Damn it, why am I am such a mother hen"_.

-x-x-x-(At Sasuke's house)-x-x-x-

"Be right back," Naruto said grinning as he got off his teacher's car and rang the doorbell "Sasuke!" he called, knocking three times for good measure, "Hey Sasuke, open up!"

"Hi!" A man in an orange mask greeted him enthusiastically, raising his right hand to wave hello. "I'm Tobi!"

"Eh…" Naruto droned, trying to look pass the stranger for any signs of Sasuke, "do I know you?"

Tobi callously looked left and right before leaning down to Naruto's height and motioning the blond to lean closer, as if to tell him a secret. Naruto did so and offered his ear.

"I'm Tobi!" the enthusiastic stranger shouted in Naruto's ear, earning a curse word from the boy. "Hey! Are those books for Sasuke?"

"Um…" Naruto said, trying to keep the pace how Tobi's fast speaking patterns and topics, "yeah!"

"I'll give it to him! Tobi makes fast deliveries!" Tobi said, snatching the books away from Naruto and closing the door before the blond had a chance to react. Naruto could hear him running up the stairs, plummeting down them, climbing them again, and after the short moment of silence, he could hear somebody running down the stairs and thrusting the door open.

"Tobi delivery was a success!" He announced, waving some orange pompoms.

Naruto was mildly distracted by the routine but he snapped out of it fast. "Can I see Sasuke?" he asked before Tobi had a chance to close the door again.

"Okies," Tobi said, throwing the pompoms away and pulling out a list with only two names on it, "If you're on the list then Sasuke doesn't want to see you. Name please."

"Naruto Uzumaki"

"Aha!" Tobi exclaimed, motioning the blond to lean closer for another 'secret'. Naruto eyed him with a frustrated pout before offering his ear again. Tobi grabbed a loud speaker and shouted "You're on the list. Bye!" And with that Tobi slammed the door, and Naruto could hear him laughing.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled, knocking on the door four times and even kicking it. He wanted to see Sasuke and he also wanted to punch the guy with the orange mask. "Sasuke," he shouted before back to steps to scream again, "Sasuke!"

Iruka, alarmed because he heard Naruto shouting, lowered his car window to hear the blond yell "Sasuke!" four more times. He bonked his horn, "C'mon Naruto, let's go"

Defeated, Naruto slumped back into the passenger seat, bringing with him imaginary thunder clouds_. "Sasuke didn't want to see me."_

"So…" Iruka started, "How is Sasuke?"

"There was this stupid list and… this jerk didn't let me through and… and… can you just drive me home?"

The adult started the car, feeling like a failed parent again. It was his intention to lift Naruto's spirit but instead it seems that Naruto was even more depressed and angry than before.

"Hmmm, say I'm getting sort of hungry," Iruka said, resorting to his trump card, "How about we stop at Ichiraku's before I drop you home."

"No thanks…"

"… I'll buy you two bowls of ramen. Any ramen."

Naruto swiftly exchanged looks with his teacher but moped again. "Nah, not hungry,"

"…"

"…"

"…three bowls of ramen, final offer."

Naruto chuckled and grinned brightly. "Then what are we waiting for, let's go already!" he said pushing the elder's leg down on the pedal. "Thanks, Iruka-sensei"

"You're welcome" the teacher replied. Sure, it was a cheap way to up Naruto's spirits, and it really didn't solve any problems but anything was better than having a depressed Naruto. That aside, "I was being serious, you know, I'm not buying you more than three bowls."

"What? But Iruka-sensei, I can't be that disrespectful. Ramen should be eaten in even numbers so I'll have to eat four bowls!"

"I get one bowl, you get three. That's already four."

"B-B-But I'm a growing boy. I need lots of it."

Iruka ended up buying five bowls of ramen for Naruto, a different flavor each. And later that day Iruka stopped by Naruto's place with some healthy take out. Saying that since he was indeed a growing boy, he needed to eat something nutritious, and ramen wasn't it.

-x-x-x-x-(Another day after)-x-x-x-x-

Sakura again had to wait late for her mother to come pick her up, so she busied herself plucking out the petals from the flowers at the entrance. Naruto had offered to walk her home and carry her things but she turned him away quickly. _"The nerves,"_ she thought bitterly, _"Sasuke is hurting and all Naruto can think of is dating me."_ Sakura went to pluck yet another flower out but her hand got slapped away before she could reach the stem.

"Could you stop doing that?" Ino said, petting the flower Sakura was about to pluck, "These flowers are called Cosmos and they are one of the cutest flowers out there".

"They are just flowers," Sakura muttered uninterestedly.

"Seesh Billboard, for a girl named after a cherry blossom you have no appreciation for flowers." Ino commented, "besides, there's a rumor that these flowers are taken care of by Naruto, you know, to help pay for his school tuition. Shouldn't you be a little more considerate?"

"…they'll just wither anyways," Sakura sighed and went to pluck another flower, only to get her hand slapped by Ino again. "Ouch, what's your problem, Ino-pig, I wasn't going for the flower, just the buds."

"That's even worse!" Ino said protective of the flowers buds, "There's no meaning to a flower unless it blooms."

"Don't know about that," Sakura responded quite pessimistically.

"I think you should know better about that than I do," Ino sighed, "You think I haven't noticed how you keep spacing out in class? You're withering away. Keep this up and even Naruto will score higher than you."

"Can we not talk about him?" Sakura derided, "He knows I want to be left alone yet he still pesters me."

"Yeah but that's because he's wor----"

"He knows I'm hurting about Sasuke-kun but all the selfish idiot wants to do is ask me out on a date."

"He likes you, Sakura, and all he wants is to make sure you're o---"

"And he is so impulsive, just the other day I had to deck him because he tried to hold my hand,"

"Okay, I'm leaving!" Ino shouted, standing up angrily, "I'm sick of your whining! That's my date you're bad-mouthing! I mean, he was my date. You should be happy he still wants to be around you even after you dumped him right before the dance!"

"You did the same with Shikamaru,"

"Don't talk back to me! Shikamaru knew he was just filling a reserved seat! He's not in love with me! But Naruto was really looking forward to going with you! He was so bubbly it annoyed me! And then you destroyed him! He was destroyed and I had to rebuild him! And he is not an idiot! Well, at least he is doing something to fix that, you on the other are just moping around doing nothing. If there's something troubling you, go fix it! But don't try to make yourself look better by demeaning him! Hmph!"

Ino stormed off.

"What's her problem?" Sakura muttered, "I was just talking about Naruto, what's the big deal? Besides, what does she know anyways? I _am_ trying."

-x-x-x-x-At the lowest part of town-x-x-x-x-

"I hear you, I hear you," Naruto said, undoing the lock to his apartment door. He opened it and saw no one. Then he looked down and had to resist the urge to laugh, "Too many stairs for you?"

"Yeah, they're a pain," Shikamaru wheezed, asking for a helping hand to stand, "We've come to pick you up,"

"We?" Naruto asked, not seeing anyone else there.

"Didn't bring them here, I didn't know if you wanted to keep your address private"

-x-x-x-x-Where it all goes down Part One-x-x-x-x-

The first thing Sakura noticed when she entered the residence was the expensive black limousine parked in front of the house. _"Is Sasuke-kun going somewhere?"_ she wondered. She raced to the doorbell and this time when the door opened, it was Sasuke on the other side.

Sasuke paused at his step, slightly surprised to see Sakura there. But he was never the greeting type. "It's going to be night soon, what are you hanging around here for?"

Sakura didn't bother with greetings either, her main focus now was what Sasuke was dragging behind him. "Is that a luggage? Sasuke-kun, are you going somewhere?"

"Hn," he shrugged, hiding the luggage behind the door, before saying "you should go to bed."

That was all the warning bells she needed to hear. He attempted to close the door on her but she shoved her foot in before he could. "Where are you going?" she demanded to know. She needed to know. He couldn't be leaving, could he?

"Why should I have to tell you anything?" he asked in a bored tone, "Just do me a favor and keep your nose out of my business"

"Give me an answer!" she shouted at him for the first time since they met, "Why won't you tell me anything?" she said referring to the way he always avoided giving her answers, "Why is it always silence with you? Sasuke-kun you've never shared a single thing with me!"

She stared at him, and she stared at him good. Hoping her concern would reach him.

"It doesn't concern you." He answered, becoming slightly irritated, "And drop the -kun already. It annoys me" He revealed, attempting to close the door again. He had a feeling she was about to cry or something, and he didn't need any of that baggage.

"…I know you hate me." She said trying to reach out to him. Sasuke mentally cursed but said nothing of it. "Even in the beginning you could never stand me. But you didn't exactly push me away either! It was you and me… and Naruto. And now, you got a limousine waiting for you and you're carrying a luggage! Were you even planning on saying goodbye to us?"

"Hn," Sasuke said unmoved, "I have other things to do."

"Like what?" she yelled again, "Revenge on your brother?" That got her a glare from him but she refused to back down. Not when the man she wanted in her life was ready to walk out on her. "I know…I know that you hate him. I've been around you enough to know that. And you probably are placing the blame of your parent's death on him. But seeking revenge… that won't bring anyone happiness, nobody at all. Not you… and not me."

"You should stop speaking about things you know nothing about," he said, not welcoming her understanding, "You can't compare the way you live your life with the way I do mine. I'm not the same as you."

"Don't do this Sasuke-kun!"

_**Slam!**_ He closed his door and locked it.

"No!" she shouted, he had just shut her out. He was leaving. He was leaving her. "Sasuke!" she shouted again, "I'm so in love with you I can't even stand it. If you would only be with me, I promise, I'd never let you regret it. Every day would be a joy. I can give you happiness. I'll do anything for you, Sasuke, please I'm begging you. Stay… with me. Don't leave me, please. I have a family, and friends but if you were gone, Sasuke, it would be the same thing for me as being alone."

"Please," she said again, this time calmer but he didn't answer to her. "Sasuke please open the door. You don't have to be alone. Stop shutting people out!"

Still he didn't answer.

"_I failed," _she lamented, _"he shut me out."_ It hurt now but she knew the hurt was really going to sink in once she gets to her bed. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop the tears by then. Defeated, she left the porch. However it wasn't until she crossed the street that she heard him shout her name for the very first time that day.

"Sakura!" Sasuke called, not leaving his doorstep but holding her attention. "You haven't change at all from the first time I saw you. You're still as annoying but… I don't remember saying I hated you" he stated, and in his own way of giving it closure he finally shared some kind words with her.

"Thank you," he said, "for caring."

Then he shut the door before Sakura could reply, not even wanting to meet her face to see her reaction.

-x-x-x-x-The Retrieval Team-x-x-x-x-

"Are you sure we're going the right way, fox boy?" Kiba asked, put an arm over Naruto's shoulders.

"Can it, dog-breath! Of course I'm sure," Naruto answered, wrapping an arm around Kiba's waist.

"Whatever you say," Kiba replied, looking back over his shoulder to speak with Shikamaru. "Still haven't come up with a plan?"

"The whole thing is a drag," Shikamaru sighed, "but I know the guy so I can't just let it go. I still don't know what we should do at Sasuke's place but I figured the more guys we have the better our chances. I get the feeling bringing a girl along would only annoy him"

"Yosh! Shikamaru is absolutely right!" Lee announced loudly, "Only through male bonding can the dimming flames of Sasuke's youth be rekindled!"

"That aside," Neji interjected looking slightly appalled by Lee's phrasing, "Perhaps it'll be best if Shikamaru first explained why exactly he chose the seven of us for this?" The Hyuuga briefly batted his eyes lashes towards the people he was currently around with, counting the heads mentally. There was Naruto, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Chouji and Lee. "I'm pretty certain than half of us has never even spoken with the Uchiha."

Shikamaru sighed again before answering, because honestly it wasn't like if he already didn't know that. "Look, for as long as I've known him, Sasuke and I haven't exactly been close buddies, in fact I don't really like him at all. All the same, Sasuke is our classmate and he is going through some tough times, so as Lee suggested we should tough it out together".

Lee nodded vigorously at this.

"As for your question," Shikamaru said to Neji, "We were all at the beach with him the day the girls played volleyball for us, and call me crazy but Sasuke seemed to be enjoying himself that day. I thought that maybe we could try to relieve that. I wanted to invite Sai as well but I didn't know how to reach him."

Everyone hummed at that. It was true that nobody knew how to reach Sai.

"Oi, Naruto," Kiba then said, observing the area, "Haven't we been through here already?"

"Um… no?" Naruto responded, refusing to establish eye contact, a dead giveaway.

"Dang it, we're lost aren't we?" Kiba complained, "I knew your sense of direction stunk, but not by this much!"

"I'm telling you I'm not lost!" Naruto complained back, "It's just… erm… getting a little too dark to see, ne?"

"Ugh," Neji rolled his eyes at that. "This is simply getting us nowhere," he stated picking up his iPhone, "Just give me his physical address and I'll call a cab to pick us up."

"Eh…" Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Eh…. What?" Neji drawled.

"I know how to get there but… hehehe… I don't really know the address." That got Naruto lots of unsatisfied and disappointed grunts from his peers.

"Can't say I'm surprised," Kiba said smirking, pulling Naruto closer to mess his hair. Naruto reciprocated it by getting out of Kiba's hold and jumping on his back. By instinct Kiba secured Naruto's strong legs around his waist as Naruto used both hands to mess up Kiba's hair. They both laughed and then resumed walking with Kiba still carrying Naruto piggy-back style, and Naruto giving him directions of where to turn. Kiba was beaming.

Lee noticed the interaction and immediately offered his back to his classmate. "Neji!"

"Not a chance!" Neji answered as soon as Lee offered it.

"Why so shy Neji?" Lee asked before directing his attention ahead, "Yosh!" he shouted, rubbing his eyes to make sure he was seeing right, "Is that the lovely Sakura I am seeing?"

"Sakura!" Naruto shouted, practically running over Kiba to reach her as fast as he could, "Sakura!"

"Na-Naruto…?" Sakura asked distraught, revealing tear stained eyes, "Why are you here?"

"Forget me, did something happen? Are you hurt?" He asked worried and becoming angry as he tried to figure out why she was crying. "Agh," he said clenching his fists, "Tell me the name of the bastard that made you cry and I'll beat him up for you!"

"No… no…" Sakura said, wiping her eyes, "It's just that… that I tried, I told I love him and he… he…" Sakura stopped, and paled as she stared at Naruto, then her skin recovered her color and she grabbed him and said, "You! You can stop him!"

"Stop who?"

"Sasuke, he's leaving! He's moving away Naruto! I did everything I could to give him a reason to stay but it wasn't enough. No, it wasn't enough from me. He needs to hear it from both of us. Naruto!"

"_**Damn it why didn't I think of this before?"**_ Inner Sakura raged, _**"Sasuke denies it but he always listens and answers to Naruto. If someone can stop Sasuke from going away it's him!"**_

"Naruto!" Sakura said a little frenetic, "Please, this is a one in a life-time request. He needs us. Tell him to stay, please, with us… with me."

"Sakura…" Naruto said, softly grabbing her hands and pulling them away from him. He had never before seen her_ this_ agitated and reliant on him. And frankly it scared him a little but is also hurt him. But she needed some reassuring and he was willing to give it to her. He knead her hands before offering her his reassuring smile, "Don't worry one bit, I'm gonna bring Sasuke back. I promise that on my life. Besides, he can't leave without saying goodbye. I'll teach him some good manners, ne?" he said banging his fist together to show he meant business even if he did it in a playful manner.

"That's quite a statement," Kiba said, walking up to them, "You sure you should be promising that you'll make him stay?"

Neji also had his two polished cents to add. "It is quite pretentious of you to attempt dealing with the family affairs of others, Uzumaki"

"When I give my word you can count on it," Naruto said reassuringly, flashing his teeth and giving the thumbs up, "Believe it!"

"Thanks, Naruto" Sakura said relieved, "Thanks for understanding."

"I'll go ahead, Lee take care of Sakura!" Naruto said before speeding off.

"Follow me Sakura, allow me to accompany you home," Lee said offering his arm, "You have nothing to worry about. Did you see the way Naruto gave you the thumbs when he made the promise? It was the nice guy pose. It means that he will do it. I can tell, Naruto will succeed."

-x-x-x-x-Where it all goes down Part Deux-x-x-x-x

The young brooding Uchiha sighed as he closed the trunk of his limo. "So it's you this time."

"…why?" Naruto asked.

"Go home," Sasuke answered, his eyes trained on the back of the automobile. He heard the other walk closer until they were standing side by side, elbow to elbow. Both still not establishing eye contact, but knowing that Naruto would be the one to speak next.

"We were supposed to graduate together, to walk shoulder to shoulder,"

"You can find somebody else to walk beside you. Some other friends since unlike me you have _plenty_ of those, right?" Dark eyes filled with scorn finally met with blue eyes filled with regret. "I can't play with you anymore, I'm leaving with Madara."

As Sasuke attempted to walk away, he had his arm grabbed by Naruto, but after years of being together the Uchiha was already expecting it. So he just stood there, waiting for other to say what he felt he had to.

"Isn't Madara the guy that took your brother away when he was fifteen?" Naruto asked, walking in front to face his best friend and rival, "You said it yourself that your brother almost never visited since he went away. You might not come back if you go. Like I'd be able to let you go that easily."

"What you want doesn't matter to me," the runaway answered, shrugging his arm off from the other's grip, "Don't get in the way of my revenge."

"No!" Naruto said grabbing Sasuke by the hem of his shirt and pulling him close, "You can't leave. You… me…."

"Let go of me, Naruto."

"No"

"Let go!"

"No!"

"Get off!" Sasuke said, shoving Naruto off of him and making a run for it.

"Sasuke!" shouted the attacker when he noticed Sasuke was going to run to his house. "You're not gonna walk away from me!" he said grabbing the paler arm again, but this time Sasuke elbowed Naruto's stomach and turned around to land another blow. Naruto dodged by going down and followed it up by tackling the Uchiha like he would have done on the football field.

Now Sasuke was with his back against the pavement, with Naruto on top of him.

"How can you?" Naruto asked, pinning Sasuke wrists above his head on the pavement, and forcing Sasuke's legs apart and down with his knees, rendering the Uchiha motionless. "Sasuke! How can you turn your back on me like that? Were you really going to leave without even saying goodbye?"

"Hn,"

"I know we fight, a lot. But we've been through so much! Was my friendship really that meaningless to you?"

"Idiot!" Sasuke scuffed, not even bothering to resist Naruto's force, "If we been through as much as you claim then you know the answer to that"

"Then maybe I'm stupid 'cause I don't know the ans- aghhh!" Naruto grunted as Sasuke headbutted him off, making the one on top lose his grip on the one bottoming. The Uchiha followed the attack by kicking Uzumaki's face to the ground, successfully realizing his wrists. Then he pushed the blond down and held those tanned arms to the ground, reversing their roles.

"You miserable, number one failure of a friend!" Sasuke spat out, that weird red glow now evident in his eyes, making him look dangerous when combined with his pale skin and dark vampy hair. "You have no right to tell me what I can and cannot do!"

"But you're not being cool!" Naruto retorted, "You're not thinking straight! You're just caving in to a fresh wound! You're being ruled by hatred!"

"Shut up!" he spat out menacingly, "Shut the hell up already! What do you know about what I'm feeling? With no siblings or parents, you were alone from the start!" he yelled, becoming even more agitated, "Just what the hell do you know? I suffer because I had those bonds! You don't know what it's like to lose them!"

"Sasuke…" Naruto said before kneeing him in the gut to push him off. Sasuke fell backwards in a coughing fit but manage to roll to the left to avoid the punch Naruto threw him. The blond curse as his fist connected with the concrete but had no time to inspect the damage because Sasuke retaliated by kicking him on the ribs to send him flying.

Sasuke took that chance to finally make his escape, so after achingly pulling himself to his feet, he made another run for it. He only made seven steps before he was tackled to the ground again by Naruto. The tackler grabbed the Uchiha's arms and bent them backwards to restrain him from using them. Now Sasuke was facing the ground with Naruto on top pinning him down.

"It's true," Naruto yelled, "I don't know anything about siblings or parents but… to me, Iruka-sensei is like a father, he doesn't' let me get my way at times but I know he will always be looking out for me and buying me stuff. And Jiraiya, that pervert, I still don't know how he got the rights to be my guardian. We are not even related by blood. But he gave me roof; he is taking care of my fees and is always trying to give me some of his perverted advice. He feels like a grandpa to me. And you," he said releasing Sasuke's arms, "I've never felt a bond so strong. We are always fighting but we understand each other and we're always competing to get better. I always imagine you at my side and even though we get angry I can never hate you for it. You're like the brother I never had."

"Naruto, you idiot," Sasuke whispered, hiding his face between his arms, "It's too late to say something like that."

"It's not fair," Naruto said, "Every time you had the upper hand you tried to run. Why do you refuse to face me?"

"…"

"Answer me! Why couldn't you say goodbye?"

"Let go!"

"Answer me!"

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, his voice cracking up, "Why don't you ever shut up! Isn't it obvious?"

"Sa-Sasuke?" he asked worriedly as he got off, "Y-You're crying?"

"You stupid knuckleheaded loser," Sasuke answered, sitting down on the pavement, Naruto immediately doing the same. "Dobe, I knew this would happen." Sasuke continued, trying to wipe the tear away, "Why do you make me fess up to things you should already know?"

"Sasuke…"

The heartfelt moment was the interrupted by a third person. He was tall, built like a war veteran, and had those distinctive Uchiha features. "I hope I'm not interrupting something. But we have a plane to catch." He said.

"Give me five minutes, Madara" Sasuke answered, and both he and Naruto stayed quiet as they watched Madara get on the driver's seat of the limo.

"I know you don't want to go," Naruto then said, "Stay, why can't you just stay?"

"Because he's not coming back," Sasuke answered, "Itachi said he won't be back. But if I leave with Madara, doors can open themselves for me. Doors that Konoha High can't open. I'll be able to see and visit the same places Itachi has. But I'll do it better than him, I'll achieve recognition and I will reach him. I will see him again. Naruto, if Itachi won't come to me I will go to him. But he is elite, I can't be any less, I will surpass him. Then I will rip him away from his position and when everybody speaks about him it will only be to say that is riding my cocktails."

"Sounds complicated, and warped." Naruto chided.

"But that's my goal. You can understand that, right Naruto?" he asked, "Don't you have a goal too?"

"But I… I don't want you to go."

"You can't always get what you want." Sasuke answered solemnly, "Like me for example, I never got to hear what my dad thought about me? I never had the courage to ehh?" he staled the moment Naruto hugged him, but after a few minutes in it Sasuke returned the hug.

After the hug ended, the kept staring at each other even as Sasuke boarded the limo. It was only when Madara got up to close Sasuke's car door that their eye to eye contact was severed. Naruto felt like crying his eyes out as he watched how Madara drove Sasuke away from the Uchiha State, away from Konoha High, and away from him.

But it was only when he remembered the promise he made to Sakura that the teardrops did pour out.

_**-x-x-x- (End of Chapter **__**Thirteen: "No Rain, No Rainbow"**__**) -x-x-x-**_

**A/N 1:** It had to be done, Sasuke had to go away. For now let us all remember him as he was in his pre-shippuden era. Yeah, he was still a women hater back then but he was cool. For me Shippuden Sasuke is so wrong in so many ways I don't even want to deal with that. I also chose Naruto and Sasuke to bid their farewell like this because I also refuse to sicken Naruto with that Sasuke obsession. Besides, for the sake of Sakura's personality, Sasuke had to go away.

**A/N 2:** Now there are only two arcs left and I'll be done. The mini-Shippuden arc (where I'll deal with the breakthrough performances of Sai, Sakura, Gaara and Hinata, in no particular order) and the Presidential arc (which is the final arc, in other words, the Naruto vs Ino arc).

**IMPORTANT A/N 3:** I have a special treat in the next chapter, but you guys and girls (and those in between) can help me out with it. Submit via review or PM some cheesy/cool pick-up lines. Note that these pick-up lines should be from a male directing them to a female. I need at least a total of eight for the next chapter so help me out with good ones.

The next chapter will be called "Heaven and Earth" (The Sakura Chapter) but it will also feature some yummy KibaNaruIno. Until next time! Believe it!


	14. Heaven & Earth

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _NARUTO_ nor do I own the awesome pickup lines submitted by my reviewers. Thanks for making this chapter a somewhat interactive read. I make no monetary profit out of any of this. Thanks for sticking with "Classmates of Hell"

**A/N:** Happy Valentine's Day! Here is a treat! Two kissing scenes in this chapter! This means Naruto will kiss someone full on the lips and he will also get kissed by somebody later. Can you guess with whom?

_**-x-x-x- (Everything happens suddenly. The reasons only become clear later) -x-x-x-**_

**Chapter Fourteen: "Heaven & Earth"**

Come soon or late, one cannot truly escape the endless cycle of cause and effect, crime and punishment, iHokage and uGenin. The judgment had been knowingly postponed, due to certain circumstances and some loose emotions, but once the accused had been deem emotionally fit the verdict wasted no time in saying "guilty as charged".

The offender was none other than Naruto Uzumaki; the victim, Ami. The crime had been the infiltration of an amphibious (a toad, to be exact) not allowed in the facilities, and the using that same amphibious to torment a fellow classmate. The judge and witness to this all? Lady Tsunade. And as the reigning principal she administered a punishment she found best appropriate for her toad summoning alumni.

Janitor Duty

She personally visited Room A-244, with a bucket of water and a drape cloth in hand, to inform Naruto of her decision. The cocky smear her face held did nothing to hide her own amusement.

It had been during the school's final hour, the widely acclaimed last period for the students. Except for the fact that for Naruto and his peers, it had really been free period that day since their teacher had failed to arrive or leave any supplementary work to cover his absence. Only the seniors would be allowed to leave early on such an occurrence. Sophomores, however, had to wait it out until the last bell rang.

The last bell… widely known as High School's version of a Personal Jesus

Naruto would've probably used that time to goof off with his buddies, but now he found himself furiously scrubbing the dry mud off the floor of the indoors court where the dance had been held.

"Stupid Granny Tsunade," Naruto grumbled as he went to refill the moldy bucket with what was presumed to be clean water. He knew better than to actually try to drink the water the school offered. Probably because the principal wasted the school money on bets she never wins, and then was potentate enough to act all high and mighty him around.

"Grahh!" He growled, pointing a rude finger toward the general direction of Tsunade's Office before shouting, "Well I'm going to be President one day and you'll have to do what I say!" As he finished that sentence, he grabbed his meaty package and cupped it, laughing boisterously soon after. The "believe it" of his actions was evident enough.

The _**'ping'**_ of the intercoms was heard soon after, and the voice of the principal followed resoundingly.

"Naruto Uzumaki! Get back to work you brat! The floors won't clean themselves"

Immediately after, the tag named 'brat' could hear the school campus laughing at his expense, and somehow he just knew that the big breasted lady pressed all the intercoms on purpose. What Jiraiya saw in her Naruto would never figure out. She was one harsh mistress. "I'll get you back, Granny," he grinned, he always did.

"Stop grinning like an idiot and wipe the floors already!" her voice blasted again.

She was making an example out of him, he knew it.

Grin gone and now replaced with a rebellious pout, Naruto grumbled defeated, and focused on his date with the concrete. He got so involved with it he failed to hear the bell ringing. He did notice the students passing by but his mouth was so busy complaining about the people dirtying the floor he just cleaned, that his mind had no space to process that he too was free to leave.

It wasn't until he heard someone laughing at his predicament that he actually stopped and glared. Yet his anger subdued when he saw who it was.

"You're doing it all wrong, y'know" Kiba said with a toothy grin, shaking his brunet head in a _I'm-cooler-than-you_ manner. The Inuzuka then casually sat down on the floor with Naruto in order to enlighten the blond in the ways of men. "If you gonna peep, ya gotta do it right."

"Uh… peep?" the other male responded unintelligently, not really understanding what peeping had to do with scrubbing the dry mud off the floors. He only watched as the object of his confusion took the rag off his hands, sank it in cold water, and squeezed it.

"See?" Kiba said as he wiped the concrete in circular motions, "Ya gotta be subtle-like, look like you workin' hard, y'know?" Then the brunet smirked as he heard some girls walking by. Keeping the level of his voice low so that only Naruto could hear him, he said, "Now all you have to do is pretend to wipe the floors like so and…" he tilted his head as the couple of girls finished passing, and with a victorious grin on his face, he told Naruto, "Strawberry panties at the right, and baby blue on the girl on the left."

Naruto, who had been initially baffled throughout the exchange, grinned widely as he snatched the rag from Kiba, grabbed the bucket of water and moved to a spot where the student traffic was denser. Kiba knowingly followed.

The blond then got down and pretended to clean just like the brunet had done seconds before. When he heard a couple of girls giggling behind him, irises that sparkled like lapis lazuli met with slit carbon ones hopefully, but the slit eyed one just shook his head 'no'. Those girls were wearing jeans. Baggy ones. Spoil-sports!

Naruto frowned and furiously scrubbed the floors as he waited for the next couple of girls. After all, the female species tended to walk in units of two to four. Or so says Kiba. He seemed like an expert.

The male on janitor duty then heard another bunch of girls chatting behind him, and this time when he met Kiba's gaze to confirm the target, the gaze told him all he needed to know. Not only were these girls wearing skirts but they were also of a finer breed. The upperclassmen type.

Senior girls

What. A. Catch!

Naruto tilted his head as the girls passed, and by the look of his whiskered face, Kiba could tell that the blond had hit the jackpot. The smirk on Naruto's face could make the slyest of foxes proud.

"So…?" the brunet asked his buddy eagerly, like a puppy wanting to get a bite off of his new chew toy, "What did you see?"

"Panties ridin' up," Naruto revealed, grin still as wide.

"In the front or in the back?" Kiba immediately asked said important question. Things like this were the stuff epic stories among men were made of. It gave you high standing to have something to boast about.

"The back," Naruto answered, but his smile told he still had more to say. Wiggling his eye brows suggestively, he continued. "I saw the entire down-half of the buns."

Both snickered at that, chuckled and even giggled. True, seeing the down-half of a woman's booty was a common sight in the beaches where girls wore bikinis, but it was the fact the sight was seen while wearing panties that made the sight something worth telling. And in high school, this kind of info got you invited to parties, hangouts and sport viewing events like baseball.

Their laughter stopped when all of the sudden their eyes met and in a moment of true inexplicable genius, a thought was voiced between them.

"Lacy Underwear!"

One of these girls was bound to be wearing them. Kiba immediately took charge of the pretend-cleaning, while Naruto kept a lookout for proper prospects. Yep, great minds did think alike and they were the fucking pinnacle of smarts.

They couldn't help but to snicker again at their superb brilliance.

But what these two celebrated as brilliance, to a self-proclaimed genius like Neji Hyuuga, it sounded like nothing more than a petty scheme crafted by unintelligent children. The Hyuuga genius practically glided through the halls of Konoha High as he took a detour from his normal exit route. He had heard through the intercom that Naruto was stuck cleaning floors, and Neji was never the type to pass up a chance to un-cuddle the fallen while they were at their lowest.

Tenten and Lee were walking three precisely measured steps behind him, one to his right and the other one to his left, respectably. And as the three of them walked they couldn't help but to overhear the mussing of two hooligans (as Neji defined them mentally to be). It only took Neji one swift but derogatory glance at the direction of Naruto and Kiba to precisely decipher what the two of them were up to.

He had to shake his head in shame, his cascade of long carefully treated hair flowing melodiously on the air as he did so. Whoever said Neji was incapable of feeling embarrassed did not really know the Hyuuga well enough. First of all, the word "incapable" did not exist in his long list of personal attributes. The word, however, could be used to describe other people other than himself. Second and last of all, Neji was in fact very capable of feeling embarrassed, for others. After all, it was not their fault they weren't blessed with his brilliance. It was fate's.

Looks, brains, ability, size and personality, all people judge and are discriminated by these unchangeable values. It was just mere destiny that Neji had been blessed in all of these. Unlike a certain cousin of his, just ask Shino, Hinata's personality eclipsed whatever brilliance and ability she may have.

But returning to the matter at hand, Neji could not allow himself to just stroll by as Naruto and Kiba continued with their less that noble ways, and as so, in a _vital_ show of nobility he handled the situation like all refine men did. He threw a snide comment as he passed by.

"Somehow I fail to be surprised by the lack of respect towards women the Uzumaki and Inuzuka buffoons are demonstrating," he stage whispered, nose high as he continued with his belittlement, "But what else could be expected from people who's higher calling is janitor duty."

Neji allowed himself a small chuckle after his comment, and quite pleased with himself he move on to the exit, only to be tugged (**read:** choked) by the hem of his shirt by no other than the girl with the double headed buns, Tenten. And she looked like she was ready to smack a bitch.

"That was just rude, Neji," the brunette said, poking her index finger twice on his chest, "There is nothing wrong with what they're doing. In fact, so**me**girls considerate it a boost in their self-confidence, and so**me** girls would actually appreciate it if a guy checked her out once in a while".

Did Neji comprehend the not so subtle double meaning of her words? Did he notice that she was wearing a black t-shirt that read in big pink letters, "Check Me Out"? Could he tell the difference between the taste of butter and 'I can't believe is not butter'?

"That's an interesting notion in itself," Neji commented, "but those types of girls are a nuisance to me. Now follow, we have more pressing matters to attend." And with that said and done he continued his stride… with only one small difference. This time he could only hear one pair of feet shadowing his steps.

There should be two pairs.

He carefully twirled a hundred and eighty degrees and found the missing pair of feet, Lee's. The athletic teen with the shiny black bowl-cut hair was sitting between Naruto and Kiba, curious to a fault as he loudly asked, "What is it that has you both with heated faces, sweating jovially your youth together?"

"Shh, not so loud stupid!" Kiba answered, fighting down the awkward chill his spine got from Lee's strange choice of words. Naruto, who had already grown accustomed to the way his upperclassman phrases his words, quietly explained what they were up too. There was shock written in the dark haired boy's face before he asked if he could join in an uncharacteristically low voice, void of his usual loud passion.

Now Lee was eagerly waiting to try it out while Naruto and Kiba served as lookouts.

Neji and Tenten stood by the sidelines, both for their own reasons interested on how their youthful friend would perform. It didn't take long for the now excited Lee to hear the distinctive 'clank' of heels coming from behind him. Only women wore heels (**A/N:** _Okay I know some men wear heels, but let's not get into that_). Youthful passion renewed, he turned to his lookouts for that 'thumbs up' sign. But instead he saw Kiba and Naruto pale as they furiously shook their heads 'no'. Abort Mission!

Curious by the sudden change in the mood of fellow high-schoolers, he tilted his head and what he saw could not go without an exclamation of unparallel amazement. Kiba, at this very moment would decide that Lee annoyed every inch of his soul for the following reasons. First, he was not known to speak in a quiet manner, in fact, he mostly speaks with exclamation marks. If his lines were written in a script, it would all be Caps letters. Second, Lee wasn't aware of the words "subtle", "tact" and "mortification". And last, what he said.

"OH MY GOSH I CAN SEE EVERYTHING!" (**Read:** The female wasn't wearing anything under her skirt).

Three fully developed women halted their walk. The one on the left had knee long purple hair and wore ankle length skinny jeans. She was the substitute teacher, the beautiful but stern, Yugao Uzuki. The female on the right had mid-length dark hair, red lipstick, and wore a strap dress all the way down to her knees. She was also the source of the SFX of heels walking. Kurenai Yuhi.

Both of them were merciless Ice Queens when they wanted to be, but because of their outfits it was obvious neither of them had been the one Lee had just ogled. A part of Naruto sort of wished it had been either of those two, since deep down he knew those teacher were the forgiving type. But as Neji would've later put it, fate was not on their side today.

The one Lee had ogled was the female in the middle. In his defense, said teacher always wore borderline suggestive clothing. In his opposition, he had ogled who could possibly be the most maniacally sadistic women on Earth. The 8th Amendment, which forbade cruel and unusual punishments, was invented for the very purpose of giving men a chance to fight back against the birth of a woman like her. This was the woman whose grin said _I'm-about-to-fuck-you-up_.

The Girls P.E. teacher, Ms. Anko "Sex on Legs" Mitarashi.

A boot was firmly pressed against Lee's neck, and he was pushed down against the floor by it. "So," her sneer came, "Enjoying the view?"

"Anko!" Kurenai scolded when the sadist pushed her boot a little further down, watching in fascination as the boy's eyes attempted to bulge out, "What have I told you about utilizing physical aggression against our students?" she asked in a scolding manner. But then her red eyes locked with Lee's biddy ones as she suggest mental abused as an alternative, since it lead no clear traceable evidence.

"The other two got away," Yugao pointed out.

It was at this very moment a certain Hyuuga coughed loudly, gaining the attention of the two teachers and the substitute one. The cough-afflicted teen then grabbed a napkin in a most curious way to clean his mouth. Curious, because the way he held the napkin as he clean his mouth almost seemed like if he was pointing at the hallway down south with his index finger.

"Oh, a hunt is it?" Anko grinned quite jovially as she grabbed Lee and shoved him to the sub-teacher's direction, "Take care of Gai's mini-me, I got fresher meat to stake."

Tenten shook her head at Neji but the Hyuuga shrugged it, saying that he was just fulfilling his role as a concern citizen and that if Lee had to get punished, Naruto and Kiba should as well.

Anko rounded the corner but saw no signs of the fugitives, "Come out come out whenever you are," she sing sang, "I promise I won't bite… that hard," she snickered. Students made way for her as she walked. They knew than to get between the hunter and her prey.

One girl however, did not make way for Anko. The girl looked a little windswept by the way her blond hair was sticking out of her ponytail, disheveled by how tousled her outfit look, and angry. Anko noticed the anger by the way the ponytailed girl furiously shoved her scattered books into her backpack. Anko stepped on the girl's last scattered notebook as she was reaching out for it, and when the girl looked up she met with the most sadistic little grin she had ever seen. That of her P.E teacher.

"Yamanaka Ino," Anko grinned as she stared at the one student who made the least amount of physical effort in her class, "You look like shit. About time if you ask me." The eldest of the two was immediately satisfied when the younger scowled, but back to business. "I take it two boys bumped into you?"

"Did they ever!" Ino hissed, "Those two idiots made me drop my books and didn't even have the decency to pick them up for me. A girl!" she accentuated her remark by pointing at the three features that visibly made her a girl. Her pretty face, her boobs and her vagina. These were the attributes that should make boys always offer their aid to girls. Clearly, something was wrong with the world if that was not the case.

"Tch," Anko shrugged, she didn't really give a damn if whether gentlemen still existed or not. What she did care about was about torturing her captives. "Well today is your lucky day," Anko announced licking her lips, "tell me where those boys ran off to and I'll gladly teach them a thing or two."

Ino pointed to a direction and Anko just had to smile. Outside the school grounds she was free to do as she pleased without having to report it to the office.

The hunt was on.

Once Anko was good and gone, Ino fixed her tousled shirt and brushed the imaginary dust off her jeans. She then pulled out her compact mirror and fixed her hair. Perfect. "Okay boys," she said opening the janitors closet, "coast clear."

"Thanks Ino," Naruto said jumping out of the smelly room. Kiba also stepped out and muttered to Ino something that somewhat resembled a "thank you".

"Yeah yeah," She waved it off like nothing, "I'm awesome that way. But if you really want to thank me…" she flipped her bang behind her ear, "how about whispering to my little ear what you did to get Coach Anko on your trail".

Kiba was about to blow her off, rightfully so. He knew the only reason Ino would even consider talking to them was because either she wanted something from them or because there was no one cool around to see her mingle with the not so popular crowd. But Naruto just grinned and told her everything, though he did exaggerate some things and made it seem like if he saw much more than what he actually saw. Ino was laughing through the whole thing.

The brunet quirked an eyebrow, he had no idea the blonds were _this_ close. _"Did something I'm not aware of happen at the dance?"_ he wondered. He had arrived late so all he had actually done was eat the special dinner and witness the dance contest. Kiba had assumed the Sasuke ordeal was the big moment of the dance, but he'll make it a point to ask Shino if something worth knowing happened between Ino and Naruto at the dance. His attention was drawn back to the blonds when Ino said the following thing.

"Figures you guys would resort to peeping,"

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kiba asked on edge.

"Well, you know," she said eye-balling Kiba's cheek tattoos and Naruto's still too orange clothes, "It's not like you guys could score."

"I could so score!" Kiba retorted, feeling his masculinity being attacked by one of the girls that should be drooling for him. What really ticked him off was the way she said it like if it was already written in stone. "If I wanted a girlfriend it would be like snapping my fingers." Then he snapped his fingers, "as easy as that."

"Yeah!" Naruto seconded. Ino's comment had sounded like a no-you-can't, which for Naruto, it was interpreted as a challenge. He disliked it when people told him that he couldn't do something and so he always did his best to prove those people wrong. "If I wanted to settle with just any other girl, I'd had them tacking numbers just to have a turn with me."

"All bark and no bite, that's all I hear," Ino shrugged and even laughed, "But if you insist," she winked, "prove it."

"Fine," Kiba said, taking off his black jacket so he could show off the pecs and biceps he's been working on underneath his mesh shirt. "I'll go first" he announced, throwing his jacket over Ino's head. He wanted to make it a point he was doing this just to prove he could do it, not because she indirectly told him "dance monkey dance".

He made his way to the other wall and leant his back against it. He messed his hair a little trying to look scruffier, it should look hot on him. Next he folded his hands behind his neck, letting the world view the developing strings of hair underneath his pits. Yeah he was all man. He whistled as girls passed by and delivered the following string of lines.

"Do you have a library card? 'Cuz I'd like to check you out?" "Whoa girl, if you were my homework I'll be doing you hard and on my desk." and "Do you work at subway? Because you just gave me a foot long"

The first girl rolled her eyes at his lameness and told him that line was outdated, the second girl scoffed and flipped him the bird, and the last one openly gawked as she stared at Kiba's crotch is search of the promised foot long. When she didn't see any indications of him being turned on by her, she scowled and stomped off almost offended.

"Well you weren't much of a looker either," Kiba mumbled as he reviewed his strategy. _"What the heck am I doing slouching against a wall? What am I? A moody Uchiha?"_

This time he purposely tripped a girl only to grab her as she was falling. He pulled her up and slowly released her. (**Keyword:** Slowly) That way he would make sure she got a good feel of his chest, his arms and his body warmth. Then to top it off, he pretended to lose his ability to form sentences when he stared into her eyes. "Ahhh… Ahhh… Ahhh…"

"ABC," the girl retorted, irritated by the tool who couldn't speak. That's why she was caught off guard when he pulled her close and worked his canines into a sexy grin as he said confidently, "I know that. I was just thinking they should move the alphabet so that U and I are together."

The girls blushed heavily before smacking herself and saying out loud, "I just got out of a relationship. I can't do this right now." She then side-stepped the hunk of man and made a swift exit.

"Well I think I've seen enough," Ino announced, "And you fail."

"What?" Kiba retorted, "Did you see how turn on that girl was by me?"

"Did you get her number? E-mail? Name?"

"Um… no,"

"Then you failed." Ino concluded not missing a beat before nudging her fellow blond, "Show me what you got, whiskers."

"Watch me!" Naruto boasted, also taking off his jacket so that he show off the perfect biceps and triceps he had been working on. Then he adjusted his pants low on his hips. He winked and cup his balls, leaving the unspoken "Too Hot To Handle" lingering on in the air. He scratched his chest through the fabric of his black t-shirt, and as he did so, said shirt would ride up to reveal the V-line of his chiseled stomach, and a minor trail of blond hair that invited the eyes to travel to the hidden area underneath his visible boxers.

The blond started walking around the room, a somewhat lost expression on his face. Gently, he tapped the shoulder of a girl and looked into her eyes with an apologetic look. His eyes intent on hypnotizing her.

"I'm invisible," he said softly. "Really?" she answered not knowing where he was going with this. "Can you see me?" he asked, his eyes looking hopeful, as if they were crying out for her. It took her by surprise the emotions displayed in his eyes, so she sincerely answered, "Yes, I can." That's when Naruto's lost look morphed into a wide attractive smirk across his face. "Then how about tomorrow night? At seven" he asked.

It took her five seconds to register that he had cleverly asked her out. But she just smiled and patted him sympathetically on the cheek, saying she already had a boyfriend.

But not one to be defeated easily, he pulled out his phone and started smashing down the buttons furiously as he approached what would be soon to be his next conquest. He murmured just loud enough for her to hear. "Dammit, why won't it work?" He flipped it open and close and open again before glaring at the bright screen.

The girl beside him made a side-way glance and saw nothing wrong with the bright screen so she asked, "What's wrong with it?"

"Eh?" Naruto responded as he turned around to meet her gaze and smiled appealingly, scratching the back of his head and giving out the charming chuckle of a boy next door, it was making her hot. "Well for starters, it doesn't have your number." He said.

She sweetly turned him down after that. She was a senior after all. He should've seen it coming.

"Okay, that's enough," Ino said, "None of you are going to get girlfriends like that. Kiba, you're coming on too strong, and Naruto, you're giving off the vibe of short-term boyfriend, possible best friend. No girl would dump their boy-toy for you."

"Pfft," Naruto argued, "You're just saying that because we're not using our lines on you."

"Yeah," Kiba seconded, "Bet you'd fall for us in an instant."

"Oh Yeah?" Ino shot back through gritted teeth. Those two had just indirectly called her "easy". The nerves! "Then try me you assholes! But let me tell you that I have already heard them all. I already know that if McDonalds named a burger after me it would be called McGorgeous, and that my beauty could end world peace. And don't even try telling me something as lame as you love me more than EMO loves girl pants. I would so castrate you for that"

"Fine with me," Kiba said, pressing his hands against the wall, his arms on either side of her, effectively trapping her there. He breathed her in and gave her lazy grin that said "I'm so seducing you right now". It was a hot grin and if her eyes wandered lower, she could get a perfect view of his developing muscles.

"Tell me one thing, Ino," the brunet whispered seductively into her ear, "How many bones are there in the human body?"

"Two hundred and six," she answered almost automatically, she wasn't one of the tenth highest scores in her class for nothing. But when she answered she captured a whiff of his… cologne? The scent was wild and dangerous.

"Two hundred and six, eh?" he spoke into her ear, and she could feel him breathe her in again before he asking, "Want one more?"

Ino gawked as she honestly didn't know how to respond to that one. When she recovered from her shock, she started laughing, hysterically. She slouched against the wall and slowly slid down still laughing. "Oh my gosh Kiba, never say that again!"

"Yeah, whatever," Kiba mumbled, folding his hands in annoyance. It was supposed to be sexy and lewd, not hilarious.

"Okay, my turn," Naruto said, hoisting her up. He stared into her eyes quite inquisitively, as if pondering something. "You know…" he said standing right in front of her. He looked down to his feet so that he could hide his eyes behind his hair and then slowly he raised his head to lock his blue eyes with hers. "I bet," he paused and openly started at her lips, "I could kiss you without touching your lips."

Ino's mouth moved to say "what?" but her voice didn't come out. Before she had a chance to really understand what Naruto was suggesting, he pressed his forehead gently against hers and lingered there. As he slowly close his eyes, Ino felt herself closing hers and pushing herself up on her toes. His hands fell on her waist and held her as he pressed his warm lips against her, tentatively at first, and then fully. They stayed like that for a moment before he moved his lips against hers twice, and she reciprocated it both times.

"_Whiskers?"_

He smiled into the kiss before pulling back to say, "Oops, guess I lost that bet," He made a fake 'oh bummer' frown before lighting up with another sweet smile. He even licked his lips.

Ino's brain turned to mush after that and now she was functioning on automatic. "I'll be going now," she announced slowly as she grabbed her bag exited the school at an even slower pace. She did not look back to either of the boys as she left.

Once she was gone, Kiba turned to his buddy and gave him a good pat in the back, "You sly fox, what was that?" he asked.

"Heh heh, that's the only thing not completely perverted I picked up from pervy sage's books?"

"Pervy sage?" Kiba asked, "You talking about your guardian?" Naruto nodded. The other male pondered on it a little more before diverting his thoughts to another conclusion. "We need better pickup lines, man, we didn't score a single number. Plus I made Ino laughed while you just shocked her"

"Yeah, ne?" Naruto admitted frowning; he wanted to prove her wrong but failed to do so. "Alright!" he shouted, pumping a fist in the air while he made himself a silent vow. He would find a pickup line so cool that even Ino will have to admit his greatness.

Believe it!

-x-x-x-(At the Starbucks)-x-x-x-

Sakura busied herself pressing the keys of her new HP Notebook. Her parents bought it for her hoping it would brighten her demeanor. It didn't work, much. Nothing these days could. To start it off, Sasuke left. Naruto failed to bring Sasuke back. She no longer woke up two hours early before school to fix her hair. What was the use? Sasuke wouldn't be there to see it. He wouldn't be there for her to greet "good morning", to wave "goodbye", to sit next to.

Without him everything was a big blank.

Of course, she tried to get over it by doing the things she would normally do in her daily life. Terrible idea. Ask Inner Sakura. It was disastrous.

Every time she raised her hand to answer question, she would get it correctly, as she knew she would. And then automatically she would stare to her left to see if Sasuke saw her answering it right. Problem was, the Uchiha was no longer there. So every time she did get something right it would result in a cruel reminder of his absence.

But heck, she was popular. She had many friends. Right? Wrong again. Without Sasuke, there was no rivalry with Ino, and without the rivalry, there was no hype. Before his departure, girls would normally sit around her, asking her question about Sasuke and about how she planned to sabotage Ino. It gave her a passé and a chance to brag about how jealous Ino must be.

Life had been good but it ended up being nothing but smokes and mirrors. There girls had continued talking about their other interests, and about other boys. Boys who Sakura knew virtually nothing about, and so, found herself left out of most conversations.

She had expected a similar thing to happen with Naruto, after all, his best friend and rival was the Uchiha. She expected him to feel as alone as she felt. But no, he had to have other friends. Ino smiled at him, Neji greeted him, Shikamaru and Chouji ate with him, Kiba hanged with him, and Hinata even talked to him. Hinata!

"_This is all Naruto's fault!"_ had been her initial thought. But in her heart she knew it wasn't. She knew she wasn't really angry at him, just at the sympathy vote he seemed to receive over her. At least of that she had been trying to convince herself of during Kakashi's class, which was being taught by Iruka on account of the former's absence. But because she had been so lost in thought she failed to notice the assignment of another special project to be done in pairs, or that Naruto had volunteered them to work together. _**"The little weasel!"**_ Inner Sakura reproached.

Now she was at Starbucks, with her second cup of mocha half empty waiting for him to arrive, and he was late. But she wouldn't get angry she told herself. She had been experiencing many strong emotions lately. For now she just wanted to take it easy and relax. So she kept typing away on her new pink computer.

That's when she heard someone pulled out the chair across her table, and plop the full weight of his backpack on it, making the table shake and almost spilling the mocha on her computer if she had not made a grab for it in time. She didn't even have to look up to know it was Naruto Uzumaki. Nobody else was _that_ disrespectful. And there he sat, scratching the back of his neck, sporting a wide smile as he said, "Sorry for being late, Sakura."

"_Breath in, breath out"_ the girl thought, trying to ease her easily ignited temper. "About time, now give me the instructions," she shouted. Sure, her temper still seeped out but at least she didn't hit him.

"Oh here," he answered, handing her over the instructions before noticing her beverage, "hey Sakura, are you going to drink that?"

"Go ahead," Sakura mumbled as she studied the instructions. Basically she had to make a comparison about two things that were by nature opposites. Iruka had assigned them Heaven & Earth. A conflicting perception of these two terms was suggested to earn a higher score on the project, hence the reason this comparison should be made in pairs, because no two minds thought alike.

An example of how these two comparisons should be made was given with the topics '_**the human mind and the human body**_'. If the weakness was mental, seek knowledge and wisdom, prepare for life. If the weakness was physical, run the fields and seek advantages.

"I don't really get it," commented Sakura, "Heaven and Earth aren't even opposites. Heaven and Hell would've made more sense." She looked at Naruto to see if he agreed. She frowned. He wasn't paying attention. Instead he was slurping her now empty mocha cup while he read the menu.

"Eh Sakura, you said something?" he asked, blinking twice.

She. Wanted. To. Punch. Him.

"Lady's room," she said, leaving him for some time alone, otherwise the establishment would have asked her to leave on account of how hard she would've smacked him.

"Alright," the male murmured, not really knowing if he was supposed to answer to that or not. He picked up the instructions to the project while he waited for her to return. "Hmm," he viewed, "Heaven & Earth".

When Sakura returned twenty minutes later, relaxed because she managed to repress her most basic instinct (decking Naruto), she found her knuckleheaded classmate browsing the net on her **new** pink HP Notebook without her consent to do so. New! Pink! Hers!

"_**He's fucking shameless!"**_ Inner Sakura roared.

She stood behind him and as dangerously as she could she said, "Naruto, you better not be…"

"Relax," He cut her off and even waved her off, not bothering to turn to look at her, "I'm using your guest account". Then he turned to her and smiled endearingly before sweetly saying, "I would never invade your privacy, Sakura."

"_I wonder about that,"_ she thought skeptically of him, taking her seat across him. "So," she inquired, "Are you browsing for ideas for our assignment?"

"Nah," he answered lazily, "Already did that"

"What?"

"Here," he said, tossing her his notebook with his written ideas, "I'll write more later but I wanted to hear your thoughts of it first." He then broke eye contact with her in favor of browsing the internet. "You see," he said as he typed away, "I didn't get it at first but then I've gave Heaven your face and…" he lightly blushed, "well read it".

Sakura rolled her eyes at his one tracked mind. They were supposed to be making a comparison about Heaven and Earth and the only thing he could think of was of her? How cheesy.

She read what he wrote

-_My feet are grounded but I still have aspirations to reach that which is so far out of my reach. Because I'm Earth and she is Heaven. My highest goal. I would do anything and everything just for her happiness and acknowledgment. I am dirty, and gravity is always trying to pull be down and control my movements. But I am also full of life and aspirations. That's why I don't regret being so low underneath her, because she gives me hope, a goal to strife for, and a reason to live fully. A reason not to give up in life and accept gravity's pull.-_

Pink rose to her cheeks as she stared at the boy, no, the man across her. She inspired this? It was so beautiful.

He was smiling as he read something on the computer screen. It was an endearing smile. She got a good look at him. His golden chunky spikes, his captivating blue eyes, that perfect nose, the mysterious scars across his cheeks, his tan skin, his manly jaw. _"When did Naruto become so handsome?"_ And he looked strong too, and he was also taller than her now.

She had to look away to cover her intense blush when something deep within her conscious mind said, _**"He's hot**_."

She stared back at him, wandering if he noticed her splutter but saw him still smiling at the bright screen of her laptop.

The waitress at the café was about to ask the couple if they wanted something since their table has been empty for the last twenty-something minutes, but she stopped herself at her tracks when she noticed the girl with pink hair staring adoringly at the handsome boy in front who was clueless to her lingering eyes. The pinkette girl's face was practically glowing.

Said waitress turned around with only one thought in her mind. Young love. She wouldn't dare interrupt that scene.

"Say Naruto," Sakura said, still staring at him lovingly, "If you're not looking for info for our assignment… then what'd you browsing?"

"Pickup lines," Naruto answered, still focused solely on the screen.

"Pickup lines?"

"Yeah," he answered, licking his lips soon after, "I'm looking for a good one to use on Ino."

And just like that the lovely glow on Sakura's porcelain face dissipated, the warmth being replaced with a frost so cold it could freeze the sun. It were occasions like this that the subtle changes in Sakura's personality were visible, almost as if another Sakura was coming forth. An Evil Sakura! Everyone in the café felt the sudden chill claiming their spines. Well everyone, except Naruto.

"Heheh," said boy chuckled, his face centimeters away from the screen. "Listen to this one, Sakura. Ahem, why don't you come over and we can do math at my place. Add the bed, subtract the clothes, divide the legs, and I'll multiply."

It was a funny pickup line. "Think Ino will like it?" he asked, finally looking away from the computer. All he saw was her fist inches away from his face before he blacked out.

The manager of the establishment kindly asked Sakura to leave and possibly never return. Hinata, that for some reason just happened to be in the area close to Naruto, stayed with him until he recovered consciousness. The blond then walked the Hyuuga girl home, as a thank you.

Neji spotted them at the Hyuuga Gates but chose only to observe from afar, the perfect occasion for questions would present itself soon, as in dinner that night. In front of Hiashi and Hanabi, he would ask Hinata if she was on a date with Naruto.

The next day Hiashi would personally drop Hinata at school so that he could land his scrutinizing eyes on Naruto Uzumaki.

-x-x-x-(That night at the Yamanaka's)-x-x-x-

Ino was lying on her bed talking to herself, since she had nothing else to do. "It's almost seven thirty, I wonder if Naruto will call to talk to me a little. Wait, what am I saying? Why do I care if he calls or not. He hasn't in a week". That's what she told herself, but then again, today was different from any other day. Today he had, she blushed, kissed her.

"He's such an idiot," she muttered. She no longer had any use for him. She was the most popular girl in class and now she didn't even have to share the spotlight with a boy. Since Sasuke was gone there no longer was a most popular guy sitting at the throne beside her. _"That's spot will be empty for a long time,"_ she thought, _"Nobody else matches Sasuke's criteria."_

She stayed idle on her bed, her eyes wandering off to her wristwatch, then to her cell phone, then to her alarm clock, then again to her cell phone, and then she closed her eyes lids for a moment before opening them again to stare at the cell phone, again.

"He still isn't calling," she muttered, and realizing what she just said, she started to laugh for spending her alone time thinking about no one other than Naruto.

"Who cares, I'm tired so I'll sleep now", she softly leaned her head over her violet pillow, "_time for some shut eye"_ she thought, but quickly found herself changing sleeping positions constantly.

_-__"I bet," he paused and openly started at her lips, "I can kiss you without touching your lips."-_

"What the heck?" Ino's cheeks turned a light pink as the perverted memory invaded her thoughts.

"Okay, that's it." She grumbled, reaching for her phone. She was going to call him herself, if only to yell at him. "No…" she stopped herself, she wouldn't call him. He was supposed to call her, that's how it works. If he calls her, then she has the power. But if she called him, it would be admitting that his pickup line worked. And she was not going to let him have that.

One minute passed… then two… and soon after, three. _"Are you going to ask me out or do I have to keep lying to my diary?"_

…wait, did she just thought up a pickup line? Pickup lines… Naruto… the kiss…

The kiss was replaying itself on her mind like a bad song with a catchy tune. You hear it, hate it, but then you find yourself singing short phrases of the stupid song, and before you know it the hateful song is harassing you and won't leave you alone until you buy it and have it burn in your ipod.

Naruto's lips were that bad song.

And now she was craving them.

-x-x-x-(The Next Day)-x-x-x-

Kakashi was late (big surprise there), Orochimaru made them dissect yet another animal, Yamato was dull but encouraging, and Hidan blessed everyone with his colorful vocabulary. Again, Sakura found herself feeling lonely at lunch break even though she was sitting among the usual girls. Ino was leading the conversation and other girls were exchanging ideas and gossip about some celebrity breakup. But the pink haired girl could not find it in her to contribute anything. Naruto meanwhile kept inviting himself at Shikamaru's and Choiji's table, doing almost all the talking while the other two laughed at his jokes.

"_How can he be so cheerful while I am so miserable?"_ she moped, _"Must be nice to be optimistic."_

Classes continued and as usual Asuma smelled like a cancer on a stick, Kurenai was relentless with homework, and Iruka was boring. It was also announced that the school would add a new and improved art program next year. The class would be supposedly taught by a notorious artist named Deidara.

Sighing after picking up the books she would need, Sakura resolved to just go home and skim through her homework. But apparently a certain blond had other plans.

"Hey Sakura," he said detaching himself from the gate so he could walk over to her, "You walking home again?"

"Was is it to you?" she said, pretending not to know what his intentions where, even though she was already handing him her school bag for him to carry. It felt nice to have someone wait for her.

"Well I uh," he scratched the side of his cheek, "I was just thinking we could maybe do something."

"What kind of something?" Sakura asked, giggling a little before hastening her step.

"_Is she flirting?"_ Naruto wandered, the thought of it elevating his hopes like a year supply of ramen would. This was his chance to take action. He upped his pace to walk beside her and said, "Maybe we could…"

"There he is!" three middle-schoolers shouted at the same time, racing their way to Naruto. The boy of the left had glasses and a runny nose, the girl in the right had cheeks with too much powder and hair that stood up, and the one in the middle was the loudest and it was a miracle he didn't trip on the long scarf he was wearing.

"Oh…" Naruto said without enthusiasm as Udon, Moegi and Konohamaru stopped right before him, all staring at him with starry eyes. "Why are you three here?" he asked, not really bothering to greet them. The three set of sparkly eyes immediately scowled. The three crossed their arms and tapped their right foot expectantly. "Eh…," Naruto glanced at Sakura who was observing the exchange as he scratched the side of his face again. He then directed his attention to the three middle-schoolers. "I'm kinda busy right now".

"What?" Konohamaru objected loudly, "But you promised you would take us to that new Pixar movie!"

"And pay for it!" Moegi soon added.

"Yeah but" he glanced at Sakura again, who looked like she was about to leave, "can we do this tomorrow?"

"No!" the three shouted. Sakura sighed and grabbed her school bag, "Later Naruto," she said.

"But Sakura!" he said, pulling her by her arm to face him again. Though once her green eyes met with his blue ones he lost his ability on formulate clear sentences. And her face was so close. "I… I… um…"

At first Sakura was surprised by his outburst but then he just started mumbling words. She scowled; if he didn't come up with an excuse to pull her like that then she would definitely leave. She also made a point to punch him if he ever grabbed her like that again.

Konohamaru, who along with his two friends was waiting for the interaction between the high-schoolers to end, started noticing implicit yet explicit things. Both the unknown to him girl and Naruto kept staring into each other's eyes, and she was staring so intensely. Naruto's hand was still on her arm and she hasn't made a move to shove him off. _"Could it be?_" the scarf wearing boy smirked proudly at his sudden revelation and elbowed Naruto playfully, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"You're better than I thought, boss," he said, raising his pinky out, "is she your," he smiled, "girlfriend?"

Sakura scowled and Naruto could feel the negative vibes she was sending him. "Heheh," he laughed nervously. He knew she would immediately deny it if he answered 'yeah' but then again he wanted to look cool in front of his fan club. So he answered what he thought would be a happy medium. "Is it that obvious she's crazy about me?"

"Goodbye Naruto" She hissed, forcefully detaching his hand from her arm, "I'm leaving."

"But Sakura!" he said grabbing her again.

"Let go!" she decked him, hard. Naruto fell on his ass, and the forming bruise on his jaw looked like if it was going to leave a mark for days. The three middle-schoolers immediately formed a human barrier around him and glared at the abusive girl, Konohamaru being the one to shout his thoughts.

"Look what you did to the boss!" he yelled pointing at her, "You ugly girl! UGLY!"

The_ ugly_ girl dropped her school bag and cranked her knuckles in a silent threat, but Konohamaru was not one to back down easily, a personality trait he acquired from Naruto. He would defend his idol the best way he could, and school children were known for their verbal cruelty.

"You… you ugly wide foreheaded girll! Are you even really a girl? You are so ugly and you look like a man!"

That did it, Sakura slowly approached them with a face that promised a bloody death dealt with blunt objects so she could savor and prolong the beating. Their reaction was instantaneous. "Run!" The three middle-schoolers ran, Naruto alongside them because he knew that whether it was his fault or not, Sakura would hit him too.

Udon was the first to trip on his own feet, Konohamru soon after on his scarf. Because Sakura was pursuing them at such a high speed she didn't have time to stop, so instead she jumped over them, earning a squeal from Moegi that caught Naruto's attention who stopped running to look back only to be in the way of where Sakura was landing.

What happened next was a pure adrenaline rush.

The strength of their inelastic collision sent Naruto whirling backwards, Sakura attached to him thanks to the momentum. He braced himself for impact and felt the burn on his back as he practically bounced like a ball on it. But that's when it got dangerous, he could feel his body rotating and by the next time they dribbled he knew that it would by his and Sakura's head smashing on the concrete. He felt Sakura tensed, her hands clutching to shirt. He had to act. His hands shielded her head, taking the brunt of the impact as they bounced on the hard concrete again, rolling on it some more until finally coming to a halt.

The middle-schoolers stood petrified throughout the entire crash, only regaining their breath after Sakura groaned.

"Ennh" Sakura lifted her head from the neck she was accidentally nuzzling, "Naruto?" she asked, faintly aware that his body had cushioned her fall, and that she was straddling him.

"You okay?" he asked, breathing through labored intakes of air, pulling back pink strands of hair that were covering her eyes.

A moment of silent staring between them ensued, a moment Konohamaru used to whisper to his crew, "Told you there were boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Wait no," Sakura snapped from her staring, her mind set on accessing the damage. She had scrapped knees but the skin in Naruto's hands seemed torn off. She didn't even want to think how the back of him would look. "Don't move Naruto," she instructed, the firmness of her voice not betraying how worried she really was. "Boy, scarf, now!" she demanded, practically stripping Konohamaru of it to fold it and place it gently under Naruto's head. She did it quickly; she didn't want to actually see if the back of his head was bleeding.

"Nurse Shizune should still be in," she announced, standing up, "I'll look for her! You three kids better look out for Naruto while I'm gone."

"I was going to do that anyways!" Konohamaru shouted, not at all liking being bossed around but he would endure it for Naruto's sake. Speaking of which, "Boss, you're girl is one mean lady."

"Heheh, she's the toughest," Naruto laughed, closing his eyes, "she doesn't carry a pepper spray with her," he smiled proudly, "she carries brass knuckles".

"Whoa," all three said, Udon later asking Naruto if he was okay while the other two shared a similar thought. For Konohamaru it was that he'll have to grow up as strong as Naruto is if he wanted to be able to handle having a girlfriend. For Moegi it was that if Konohamaru wanted to be like Naruto then she wanted to be as badass as Sakura.

-x-x-x-(The Very Next Day)-x-x-x-

Classed passed by in a similar manner as the day before, except for what transcended during recess. Initially Sakura had seated herself at the table with the other girls, their conversations being led by Ino again. But the pinkette didn't last a minute there before she picked her tray and moved with the food to a small table occupied by three boys.

Shikamaru, Chouji and Naruto.

"Hi guys," she said as she settled down next to Naruto. Shikamaru and Chouji said "hi" back automatically but stopped eating their food when they noticed who their guest was. Well… Shikamaru stopped eating, Choiji only slowed down a bit. Naruto stared at the popular table Sakura had abandoned before joining the duo in saying, "Hi Sakura."

As expected, Sakura saw that Choiji had a home cooked meal. He rarely ate anything from the cafeteria unless Mrs. Ayame was cooking that Day. Shikamaru was eating a bag of chips he got from the vending machines. He couldn't be bothered to actually stand in line at the cafeteria. And Naruto, who had both his hands, the top of his head and his back heavily bandaged, was eating nothing.

Everyone had asked about Naruto's injuries, he answered he had an accident. Shikamaru could tell he was hiding something, but didn't push for more info.

"Here," Sakura said, forking the surprise meat the cafeteria served and making it hover in front of Naruto's mouth. He only stared. "C'mon Naruto," she insisted, "I know you're not eating because you can't hold your fork."

"But it's your food" was his weak reply, she only glared and he caved in, smiling soon after she scooped another bite for him. "Thanks, Sakura. If I knew you'd feed me like this I would get injured more often."

"Don't say that," she pouted. How could he say 'thank you' to her when it was her fault he was like that. She didn't understand it and it made her feel bad about herself. Naruto just smiled and opened wide for another mouthful. "Shikamaru," Sakura later said, "Go get Naruto something to drink." The lazy Nara mumbled something about bossy women but did as he was told.

Seeing Sakura order Shikamaru around reminded Naruto of something funny that had once happened between his Legal Guardian Jiraiya and his Principal Tsunade, so when the lazy teen got back, the bandaged teen told the story and added more jokes to it. They had a blast and Sakura made a mental point to sit with Naruto more often.

Back at the popular females only table, the girls stared and talked about Sakura. About how cool she was by sitting with the guys while they were all just talking among themselves with no guy around. When they saw her feed Naruto they all 'awed' before gossiping about their relationship, which led them to ask Ino about what her official relationship status was with Naruto. After all, they had had one steamy dance number.

Ino as usual just mingled astutely with her words, making the girls believe she was saying something when she was actually not revealing anything. Truth be told, Ino found out that she herself did not know the answer to that one. Before it had been him as her toy, but then he kissed her, for which she already had a speech prepared to turn him down the moment he asked for a date. But the thing was, he hasn't asked her out yet.

And it was aggravating her.

If a boy kisses a girl it's because he wants her, right? Sure, it was done on a dare but he kissed her. And it wasn't chaste kiss, a peck to the lips. It had lip action, it was hot and it felt good. So why hasn't he done anything to follow it up? Not that she wanted him to because she was convinced that she didn't like him that way but shouldn't there had been a flower, a phone call, a conversation or another freaking kiss already?

It happened two days ago, he should've done another move by then. Boys were not supposed to be complicated. Just show some skin and he'll be drooling at your door. That's how it always worked, but Naruto wasn't drooling.

"_Dammit whiskers!"_

-x-x-x-(The Following Day)-x-x-x

Classes were over for the week and Sakura was walking with some documents Nurse Shizune had handed her. It was about a medical program for high school students who wanted to pursue said career. It was for the summer, but the nurse thought it best for Sakura to have an early start so she could discuss it with her parents.

Medicine had been something she wanted to do, though she'll admit that lately she's been having second thoughts.

"Hey, Sakura," said a cheerful guy said, smiling at her mischievously as he detached himself from the gate he had been waiting for her. She for once was glad he healed abnormally fast, he still had some bandages around his head but it was well hidden under a baseball cap. He was holding an umbrella up for her, which made her wonder why she hadn't noticed it was raining. His excitement was evident when he said, "Today will be the day I finally walk you home."

"Stupid," she giggled as she got under the umbrella with him, her insult holding no intent, "you waited for me for that?"

"Yeah well," he scratched the back of his head, "we also have to finish our project. I want to get as much good grades as I can."

"Aha!" she accused playfully, "so you did partner with me because you wanted an easy A."

"N-No!" Naruto replied waving his hands 'no' frantically, Sakura immediately grabbing the umbrella to avoid further injuries. He had failed to notice she was joking. "I would never take advantage of you." He said honestly.

"Well isn't that nice," a third person said, also holding an umbrella as he walked toward the two teens. He wiggled his white eyebrows and gave out a perverted smirk before saying, "Fancy that, I leave you alone for a month and you get yourself a girlfriend. Your little pink friend no less."

"We're not dating" Naruto and Sakura responded at the same time, both looking away as they said that. The tiny blush on their faces didn't go unnoticed by him.

"_Hmm,"_ Jiraiya frowned, _"I leave you by yourself without a chaperon and you didn't take the chance to get laid?" _he shook his head in disappointment, _"Somewhere along the line I must have failed as a role model."_

He went to put an arm around his charge so he could tell him that he managed to finish and sell the book and that he now had the money to follow through the many medical checkups that Naruto needed, but he was interrupted when the voice of a girl shouted Naruto's name.

It was Ino's.

And she was furious.

The blonde girl -ahem, Jiraiya duly noted- the sexy young vixen marched to them, not preoccupied nor caring for the damage the cold rain could do to her hair and health, and stopped in front of Naruto, grabbing him by the hem of his shirt and pulling him close to her. Now they were both under the rain as Ino wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed him, full on the lips.

Sakura froze

Jiraiya pinched himself

Slowly but surely Naruto started reciprocating the kiss, moving his lips twice against hers. But Ino then pulled away and slapped him. "That's what you get for making me lose sleep!" she yelled, "And don't ever kiss me again you jerk!" she then stomped on his feet and shouted, "And you better call me tonight or it's over between us!"

Ino stormed off after that. She had made her point clear, and if later somebody asked she would deny it. But somebody had to set Naruto straight, he can't just kiss girls and act like it never happened. By seven tonight she would be expecting him to phone call his apology. And she would also take that opportunity to order him never to reveal this to Kiba. She would not give the Inuzuka the satisfaction of knowing she caved.

Sakura, who recovered first from the shock, was about to angrily interrogate Naruto about the mentioned kiss, the suspicious loss of sleep, and the late phone calls, but Jiraiya beat her to it.

"I knew it!" Jiraiya said, as he hugged Naruto firmly to his chest, ruffling his golden hair and crying the tears a proud parent would cry. "My boy got laid!" He checked his calendar. He would forever remember this day with great pride. It seems he hasn't failed Naruto as a role model after all.

That proclamation led him to the following inquiry, "So how many times did you two blonds do it?" but then another thought struck the proud 'parent', "Never mind, there's your nightstand. I'll just check how many condoms you used. I just have to see it!" he giggled perversely, "Where's my camera?"

Jiraiya made a run for his car, in which Naruto also got in while shouting, "You better stay away from my room you pervy sage!"

Sakura was left behind, with the umbrella Naruto had brought for her. And although she should be, she wasn't angry. Instead a single tear fell from her eyes and she just started to laugh at how funny the situation was. She couldn't help it. That was just the way Naruto was.

She had tried to worry about everything. Sasuke, her grades, her popularity and her future. She was so sure she would be stricken by depression but Naruto never allowed it. Whether it was by annoying her or making her smile, he was there to remind her she was not alone.

Sure he lacked several qualities she was looking in her ideal man, like being rich, incredibly dark and moody, an intellectual genius and other things. He was not a dream, he was real, and he was with his arms wide open to catch her if she ever fell from the sky. He was the earth that kept her grounded while her head kept loosing itself in the clouds.

She held the documents to the medical summer program closer to her chest. She would not lose him like that, to some girl and even less to a disease. Because if he was going to be her Earth…

…then she'll have to be his Heaven.

_**-x-x-x- (End of Chapter **__**Fourteen: "Heaven & Earth"**__**) -x-x-x-**_

**A/N:** There you have it! From now on Sakura will be hanging around Naruto a lot more often.

**NaruSaku Fans:** FINALLY!! HELL YEAH!!

**InoNaru/NaruKiba Fans: **Oh… bummer.

**NaruHina Fans:** NO! NO! NO!

**Neji:** Hyuuga will not lose.

**Sasuke:** …hn

**A/N:** Anyways, I took a break from the suspense factor to give you a 'depressing' chapter followed by one full of humour and fluff, so I believe the emotional quota has been filled. I'll now fully start the mini shippuden arc so trust me I'll be bringing back the intensity in the chapters. The next chapter will probably be called something between _**"Sexual Harrasment"**_ and _**"The only picture on the wall"**_ (The Sai Chapter, obviously).

Thanks again to all of those who submitted the pickup lines, they were a great help!


	15. The Art of Expression

**Disclaimer:** Is Naruto x Ino a crack pairing? Probably, but that's just because I don't own the _NARUTO_ series. Kishimoto does. There is also a scene borrowed from the Neon Genesis Evangelion Manga I claim no ownership over.

**A/N: **Kushina Uzumaki made me believe in the Naruto Manga again. Here is an update!

**A/N2:** I think I need to clarify something. The reason there is even high school drama in this story is because Naruto and Ino did the taboo and interacted with each other. How the story progresses and ends also depends highly on their interactions. They are the most important characters of this story and the real reason I chose the characters filters of **[Naruto U.] **and **[Ino Y.]**. Everything else is just oil to the fire.

**WARNING:** Animal cruelty, crude humor and pan-sexuality?

_**-x-x (Art is never finished, there's always something you want to tweak. That's why deadlines exist, to help you walk away from it.)-x-x-**_

_**-x-x-**_

_The toilet… often described as the most disgusting place on the planet, but is it really? Sure, it's the place where asses of multiple widths and densities spill their own personal brand of shit, or as could be implied by anyone who reads Kishimoto's work, where women clone themselves. _

_Others could describe the toilet as a place of utmost vulnerability, where the pants pool around its owner's feet, leaving their sex exposed in an enclosed environment. _

_It is also considered a throne where the best of thoughts could occur, a place to unload the problems away in inner thought._

_For Naruto, like to many others, the toilet was just a place of momentary solace where he could dump the remnants of his last meal, flush it, and never see it again._

…_except for the fact that his privacy has been invaded! _

_Pants unbuckled and pooling around his feet, sex exposed, and forehead filled with cold sweat, he slowly raised his sight from the tiled floor. In order, he saw a couple of black shoes facing his way, tight low ridden jeans, washboard abs, a one size-too-small t-shirt, and a small transparent smile._

"_So…," the intruder said, "you do have a dick after all". _

_**-x-x-**_

**Chapter Fifteen: "The Art of Expression"**

Were fourteen year olds eligible for work? Probably not in this country, but Naruto hadn't exactly searched for an age limit. Not that it mattered. He lacked money, and necessity always gave birth to creativity.

He knew his pranking skills would someday come in handy.

The victim? Ebisu, the closet pervert, also known as his future employer! To keep the story short, Naruto tripped him on top of one of Jiraiya's weekly dates, ruining said date. As Ebisu was apologizing, probably to avoid getting punch by an irritated Jiraiya, Naruto made some mentions of being in need of a job, of Jiraiya being his guardian, and of Jiraiya being the author of the Make-Out series.

Heh, it was a smooth sail after that. By the next week he landed the weekend shifts.

But Naruto, being the loud and obnoxious egotistical in-your-face bastard that he was, just couldn't keep it to himself and so for the entirety of the following school week he did nothing but brag about it in front Sasuke at every single lunch break, at every freaking room change, and at every fucking locker visit. Like a broken record, the only tune Naruto had on repeat was "I'm way cooler than Sasuke. I work, he doesn't."

Naruto even said it whenever he raised his hand to incorrectly answer _all_ of the questions Mr. Iruka Umino had asked in class. And well… Sasuke wasn't exactly known for being graceful in the way he handled direct attacks to his ego. It was only a matter of minutes before a shouting match between the two was unleashed, ending when Sasuke, in irritated self-defense, called Naruto out and accused him of lying.

The shit-eating grin on Naruto that day had sent chills down the spine of those who witnessed it. "Wanna make a bet?" had been his reply.

A challenge? It was a sure win for the conniving prankster and so he dared Sasuke to show himself at the arcade next weekend. By Saturday the Uchiha was there, front center. To his dismay, Naruto had been telling the truth… and the loud-mouth hadn't wasted a second to boast about it, trying to get a rise out of dark brunet. But the Uchiha, by blood right, was too cool to admit defeat and so he simply "hn" and made way to the exit.

His exit however had been impeded by a hoard of girls who normally didn't show up, earning Ebisu a much needed boost to his weekend earnings. By the end of the day Ebisu had offered a weekend job to Sasuke as well.

Now Sasuke would've declined, seeing a he had no need for the money, but the jaw-dropped expression Naruto was sporting then was nothing short of priceless.

Who was cooler, the guy who scammed his way into getting the job or the guy who got the job offered to him by simply showing up?

Smirking smugly, Sasuke accepted the job.

It were moments like these when Naruto would stare at the sky, or in case the ceiling, and ask, "why me?"

That time, his answer had been given by Neji's unsolicited input.

"Karma, Uzumaki, karma"

Naruto had never forgotten that, in a sense, because admittedly it had been the shortest sentence the Hyuuga had ever spat at him.

But that was then and this is now. He was sixteen now. Sasuke was no longer here. He packed up and left to wherever he said he was going. Today was a new day. Today would be different. Today was just Naruto, Ebisu and…

"SAI?"

"Oh so you two have already met?" Ebisu said standing behind the counter with the smiling boy named Sai at his side. "Sai here is your new co-worker, I just finished teaching him how to run the cash register."

"But but but why?" Naruto wailed, quickly stealing a glace of the still smiling boy beside his boss before continuing, "This guy is _seriously_ creepy. Just the other day I had to punch him for sitting way too close to me!"

"He seems perfectly fine to me," Ebisu responded, pushing his sunglasses back with his middle finger. "At any rate, now that Sasuke quit at such a short notice we need someone tall, dark and handsome to fill in for the Uchiha." He then patted Sai in the back, "He'll handle the token exchange and prizes, just like Sasuke did. Hopefully he'll bring in as many girls, or even more than Sasuke ever did." He then turned to Naruto and swung at finger at the teen, "Its Sai's first day so supervise him."

"Supervise…?" Naruto echoed solemnly until an idea hit him, "Alright!" he said, pushing his right hand into a fist and catching it with his left one, "If I prove that Sai can't work here, you'll fire him, right?"

"We'll see…" Ebisu answered before heading to his private office space in the back room. Naruto grinned in excitement and Sai couldn't help to wonder why.

Before going to work today, Sai had read an interesting article in _**Yahoo!**_ entitled 'The Worst Words to Say at Work' by Linnda Durre. It described "We'll see…" as the favorite phrase used by the parents. It generally meant the person was buying time, avoiding a fight or a confrontation, or really just saying no. In other words, Ebisu had denied Naruto's request. _"So why is Naruto excited over this?_" Sai wondered, _"Maybe he doesn't know the double meaning of those words"_

At any rate, "I should inform you I read the needed books to work efficiently here," Sai informed, "So there won't really be any need for your supervision."

"I'll be the judge," the other said, sitting at the counter smirking at Sai. If things went well, he could get rid of Sai by the end of the day. He really didn't like the other teen. Not after he had so adamantly invaded his personal space, and definitely not after he had insulted his manhood.

"Then I hope I meet your expectations," Sai said slowly, and he even smiled slowly, before placing both hands on either side of the cash register and petrifying himself there.

"_Does he do everything with a smile?"_ Naruto wondered, eying the other with scrutiny. Sai did have the dark hair, perfectly comb but not glossy like Sasuke's. _"He's taller than me too"_. The thought aggravated him. By the v-cut Sai practically had on display on his abdomen, Naruto could tell that he worked out too. And his face, it was so pale and not a freckle, dimple, bump, zit or hair in it. He had flawless skin. _"Damn it, he's another one of those pretty-boy types Sakura likes so much."_

"You know," Sai said, interrupting Naruto from his inner rambling, "If you keep staring at me, I'll have to hit you."

"Grrr! Well I wouldn't be staring if you weren't here!" Naruto shouted. In retrospect, it was a weak comeback, but whatever. "Why are you even here?"

Sai blinked twice and stared at the other as if he had spurted another head. "Weren't you listening to Mr. Ebisu earlier?"

"I know what he said, but why did you accept?"

For the money? For the experience? To develop work ethic? Because he wanted to? "Hmm," Sai had the feeling that if he answered with any of those obvious answers, Naruto would get even more aggravated. But then again, the teen seemed to feel antagonized by everything and anything he did and say. _"Did I do something to offend him?"_ Sai wandered. He tried smiling again, but that ticked Naruto even more.

"Well, why did you?" Naruto yelled again.

"Because I wanted to create bonds," he finally answered, surprising Naruto, "I seem to get in the nerves of my peers at school and I don't know why. So I thought maybe a change in the atmosphere was all I needed, a chance to start anew and get it right. I also read that hard work builds character. That's why I think I accepted the job offer."

"Eh… um…" Naruto stepped back at a loss of words. He hadn't expected that kind of answer and know he felt like a jerk for antagonizing the other. "Eh… um… sorry."

"Hmm?" Sai blinked twice again, wondering what could've caused Naruto to look angry in one second and ashamed at the other. And he even apologized for something but, "Sorry for what?" he wanted to asked but was interrupted by their first customer.

"Hiya Naruto!" Chouji said between munches of his half-empty (or half-full) Doritos bag. "You work here now?" Chouji asked, turning to Sai. "You're that oil painter, right?"

"Yes…" Sai answered, briefly remembering the book which read – t_he use of nicknames creates a better sense of familiarity among people, hence strengthening the bonds of friendship. In order to choose an appropriate nickname, observe the person's character traits _– Chouji had called him the oil painter, so it would only be appropriate for Sai to use a nickname as well. "I'm please to make your acquaintance. Fat-A-"

"Fantastic! Mr. Fantastic!" Naruto inserted, the palm of his right hand crushing together the lips of his co-worker. Speaking of him... "Hey art boy!" Naruto whispered behind clenched teeth, "I don't know what those books are telling you but fat-ass ain't an endearing term." The blond then turned to Chouji and tried to brush off what almost happen with a laugh. "Heh heh, hi Chouji. Came to try the new DDR?"

"Nah, maybe later. I um, wanted to talk to you." Chouji said, making Naruto blink twice before paying his full attention. "It's about Ino actually… and Sakura."

"Uh… what about them?"

"Hold on a sec," Chouji said, brushing on his jeans the Doritos stains out of his hands before picking up his phone to write a quick text, "I'm telling Ino Sai works with you now. She likes to know about everybody's life." He informed.

"Uh… okay?" Naruto answered.

"Okay," Chouji finished, grabbing a handful of his junk food before asking, "What were we *munch munch* talking about?"

"Ah… uh… don't remember," Naruto answered, and both got lost in deep thought.

"About a girl name Ino and Sakura," Sai informed, wondering if everybody else had a short attention span. The other two, immediately brightened.

"Yeah, that's it!" Munches on more Doritos, "are you dating them both at the same time?"

"Ehhh?"

"Are you going out *munch* with Sakura behind Ino's back?"

"Wha-What?" Naruto blushed, "Me going out with Sakura?"

"Behind Ino's back?"

"Eh, what do you mean?" Naruto scratched under his ear, "I'm not going out with anybody…" he said confused, "why?"

"Well…" Chouiji felt his body starting to sweat. Ino had told him not to let Naruto find out why he was being questioned so… Need a moment? Chew it over with a Snickers bar. Chouji took out his chocolate bar and ate it up to gain some time. "No reason, just looking out." He said waving goodbye.

"Okay…?" Naruto thought, but shrugged it off. "Well…" he said turning back to Sai, surprised that his strong dislike for the other had vanished. _"Must be because I feel like a jerk for antagonizing him when he only wanted to get along." _He sighed, but that didn't mean he was going to turn into Mr. Nice Guy, even if he did save Sai from getting crushed by Chouji. _"Damn it, why did I do that? Chouji could've gotten rid of Sai for me."_

"Ah, I'm thinking too much!" Naruto concluded, scratching his head to peel the thoughts away. Then he blew a raspberry at Sai and told him not to do anything freaky while he took care of some things in the back. Sai only nodded before smiling.

"Seesh," Naruto huffed as the searched for the keys to open the storage room. Some of the games at the arcade, like the sword in the stone, were required by safety code to be kept in storage while not being used. Nobody really wanted something shaped like a sword in plain view if it was not currently being used.

"Damn it," he cursed, "I swear it's on a different place every time." Two minutes later he found the keys and also got a phone call from his buddy.

"Hey Fox-Face, what are you up to?"

"I'm at work, dog-breath," Naruto answered with no ill-sentiment, "You stopping bye?" he asked with a hint of hope.

"I can't…" the other answered begrudge-fully, "I'm grounded,"

"Eh? What for?"

"Mom received a call from school, saying that you and I were actively looking underneath women's skirts. My mom almost hanged me on the ceiling."

"Ahaha, that's funny."

"What about you? Your folks received the call?"

"Yeah but all Jiraiya did was hug me and say he'd buy me a beer."

"Jeez," Kiba chuckled, "Now I'm jealous my father ran away. Well, see ya, don't want to keep ya away from work."

"Kay bye," Naruto said, hanging up, "I need to shit first, though"

-x-x-x-(back to Sai)-x-x-x-

Blow dried and styled hair that added a little volume to her usually flat looking pink hair, thin eyeliner paired with lash lengthening mascara and light eye shadow to make her green eyes sparkle like precious stones. Her skin was naturally fair, but she did add a little blush to her cheeks. She was dressed in a red tube that ended just above the start of her tight low ridding short pants. She loved how the jeans print of her hot pants made her ass look. As for accessories, she had a silver necklace with an 'O' shaped pendant, a silver bracelet on her left wrist and a SKETCH wristwatch on her right one, and some walk-out-the-store just as she bought them, sandals.

Anyone who saw the delectable girl could swear she was going out on a date. And many would wonder who the lucky stud was.

But Sakura Haruno was a girl on a mission. Though she did enjoy how heads would turn her way as she passed by and walked into the arcade. Chouji, who was on his way out, even told her she looked really pretty.

"Now where is he?" Sakura asked herself as green eyes searched for golden hair. At the counter, just before plushies and other prizes, a boy she recognized from school stood. She also took quick note that he was positioned just were Sasuke would be, if the Uchiha was still there. "Must be his replacement," she concluded and asked him if Naruto was running late or something because she didn't see him around.

Sai, the name she got by reading his nametag, said he would get Naruto for her but with a smile, warned her not to do anything illegal while he was away. Telling her there were cameras hidden everywhere. She puffed her cheeks offended, wondering what part about her hot honor student appearance even suggested she would stoop to something like burglary.

After three minutes Sai came back to the counter, with a broken but healing lip, and said Naruto was currently busy in the employee's restroom.

Sakura pouted at that, she wanted to talk to Naruto but the new employee informed her he was taking care of a situation in the boy's room. Whatever that meant. But this new kid, she observed, she couldn't deny his boyish good looks, even if he did give off a weird vibe. It must have been the reason he was hired. _"Well…"_ she thought as she flipped her hair and leant on the counter. Since Naruto didn't seem to be appearing any time soon, maybe she could pass the time with some conversation. After all if two people were standing next to each other, conversation was a common courtesy.

"Hey," she said, but stood ignored. _"Maybe he didn't hear me,"_ she thought before trying again. "Um, hey"

Again, she stood ignored.

Slightly pissed, she stared him down but he seemed too focused on a sketch he was making to even notice she was eye balling him. _"Can't blame him"_ she thought, trying to look at the situation from a nicer perspective, _"it's still too early to have costumers. No wonder he's not paying attention."_ She remembered Sasuke did the same thing, drawing doodles of some thunder god striking down a character named 'he-who-I-will-kill'.

But at least Sasuke would pretend to be listening to her by grunting "hn" at irregular periods of time. Sai here didn't. _"But it's not like anyone could replace Sasuke,"_ she thought with a smile.

Still, she didn't like being ignored. So making her way around the counter she peeked over Sai's shoulder and saw a bunch of misplaced colors. It was an abstract. "It's really good," she commented, trying to make conversation, "Does it have a title?"

"No," was his one word answer, not sparing her a glance as he continued adding colors. The girl frowned at that. She would tolerate one word answers from Sasuke but not from Sai. She wanted to have a conversation not a one-way dialogue.

"_Maybe I should be more forward,"_ she assumed, already liking her idea.

Sai kept coloring but progress was stopped when Sakura without permission or consent, flipped through the pages in search for another sketch she might like. When she found one, she asked again, "does this one have a title?" but her tone sounded like if she was challenging him into something.

At that moment, Sai closed his sketched book and answered with a little smile, "I rather you didn't flip through the pages without my permission, this belongs to my brother, after all." Then he closed his eyes and with the same little smile continued, "As for your question, I've drawn tens of thousands of pictures but I've never given one a title. This picture won't get one either."

"Eh, well that's weird," she commented, happy that she got him to speak some more.

"_**Don't blow it now!"**_ Inner Sakura shouted through speakerphones, _**"Quick! Ask him another question!"**_

"Don't artists usually name their work?" she asked.

"A name offers an emotional attachment." Sai answered, still smiling, "I can't name them because even though I drew them, I felt nothing."

"What do you mean you didn't feel anything?" She asked perplexed, now this conversation was turning weird. She made her way around the counter again to face him head on. "You have emotions, don't you?"

Sai simply smiled to her again and answered, "It means exactly what it sounds like."

Okay, now Sakura just felt downright awkward around this guy. She was about to make a mention of it but then atmosphere turned from awkward to lethal. She could feel a chill run down her spine as an almost ominous presence of certain death overtook her. Sai was staring right over her shoulder, and Sakura fought the warnings of her inner self who yelled not to look behind.

She felt something. Her skin was getting slightly itchy. Like if she was rubbed in sand. _"Sand?"_ She shook he head. It was only an expression. She didn't need to take it literally. The thought was only a coincidence.

Maybe

But Sakura never said she wasn't paranoid. Heck, it wouldn't be the first mental illness she could be accused of having. Schizophrenia and Split-Personality disorder were definitely up there too. But then the incarnation of her fear himself spoke in an impatient and commanding voice.

"Move"

"Eep!" she squealed indignantly, jumping over the counter to hide behind Sai, using him as a shield against her most recent offender.

The redheaded Gaara

The red haired boy however seem to pay her no further mind. He was staring loathingly at Sai, as if offended that he was the person standing there behind the counter. He stared at the name tag and then said in a slow yet impassive sounding voice. "The new dance dance revolution game does not supply me any high score rankings." He said almost angry at it, "If I don't know the strengths of my competitors, how will I experience the joy of crushing their numbers."

Just the sound of his voice alone was enough to bathe Sakura in cold sweat. Sai, however, closed his eyes and responded with another carefully placed smile. Sakura briefly wondered how often he smiled like that. It was staring to creep out Sakura, but not as much as the psychopathic redhead did.

"Ah yes," Sai answered, trying to recall who the other was. "You must be the infamous Gaara of the Funk."

_Shuku shuku shuku… Gaara of the Funk!_

"Since the game has just been installed, we are offering plays at half price so that the new contenders can get used to its new feel. It's a promotional strategy. By the end of the month the game will return to its usual price and the official score ranking will be placed on display."

Gaara just stared as if waiting for Sai to say something else. Once he was sure the staff employee has finished speaking, Gaara closed his eyes to go over the information he had just received. Deeming it acceptable he opened his eyes and answered. "I shall practice then and return by the start of the following month."

"We'll be looking forward to it." Sai answered, smile still present. Gaara nodded and went to practice his DDR moves.

"Phew," Sakura sighed in relief, feeling with her hand how her heart slowly calmed down. She felt like if she was hyperventilating. "Didn't you feel the killer vibe he set out?" she asked Sai between short intakes of breath. "How did you do that?" She asked. Forget the awkwardness of before. Now she was staring at Sai in a whole new knight in shining armor light.

"I've read it in a book," He answered with another smile, "A smile is the best way to deal with an uncomfortable situation. Even if it's a fake one, when used properly, you can fool anyone with them."

"What?" She said, _"What?"_ her mind shriek. _"So he smiles when he's uncomfortable? Wait, he has been smiling at me ever since we started speaking!"_

She glared at him. Forget knight in shining armor, in her mind, this guy was a jerk. But now Sai was lost in his own loud thoughts. "But it doesn't work with Naruto," he said, "He seems to get angry every time I smile at him."

"Well of course he does!" she said exasperated, but opted to simply shake her head disapprovingly at him. "I don't get your reason for smiling but normal people just smile a lot around a person they like. Naruto is a guy, so having another guy smiling at him all the time must give him the creeps."

"Oh," Sai responded, mentally filing that tidbit of information. _"So a guy like Naruto only smiles around the people he likes."_ He wanted to ask another question about his co-worker, but the blond himself finally decided to make an appearance.

"Sakura!" Naruto said running up to her, obviously excited by her presence. She smiled at that, forgetting about Sai for the moment when she noticed Naruto's eyes were wondering over her body. Well to be exact his eyes were on her creamy legs. It was her favorite part of her body too, and the reason she always chose to wear short pants. Skirts were out of the question tough, she didn't want the boy's eyes to linger too far.

"_**But that's not the only place he'll be staring today!"**_ Inner Sakura proclaimed smugly.

"_Let's see if this works," _Sakura sighed before wrapping her arms under her bosom and scolding him. "Where were you, Naruto?" She puffed her cheeks to pretend to be mad. But her ulterior motive was that it would give her an excuse to hold her breath in, making her breasts expand.

The results were gratifying, Naruto started to say something but then noticed her boobs and his eyes lingered there, all while making the unintelligible sounds of "uh…. Um…uh…mm…uh…"

"_**Hell Yeah! Operation make your boobs look bigger is a success!"**_ Inner Sakura proclaimed triumphantly. Sakura had to agree. She managed to pull it off and Naruto didn't even notice she was wearing a…

"Are you wearing a push-up bra?" Sai asked all the sudden, reminding them of his presence, "It does make your breasts look bigger," he pointed. "Naruto can't stop staring."

"EH?" Naruto and Sakura yelped in unison, before staring at each other. This time Naruto eyes made their way to her boobs in search for those push-up bra's.

Sakura felt mortified at the thought of being found out.

There was only one solution.

"Shannaro….CHA!" She decked the blond square on the jaw. "Stop staring you pervert!"

She covered her body in an attempt to protect her modesty from prying eyes as Naruto fell unceremoniously to the floor. Then she glared at the ever smiling Sai. "And you! How dare you! And even if I was wearing one, so what? There's nothing wrong with a little help, is there?" She really did feel mortified.

"Oww…" Naruto groaned, rubbing his jaw in an attempt to nurse it. "Damn, Sakura that really hurt." He whined, and even pouted.

"Whatever," she naturally responded.

"_Whatever…"_ Sai repeated mentally. That was another of the words the read in the _**Yahoo! **_article by by Linnda Durre. The word was a trusted favorite of people who wanted to dismiss the other, diminish what the other said, or get rid of the other quickly. "Whatever," was an all-purpose response to the other's earnest statement. It's an insult and a verbal slap in the face. It's a way to respond to a person without actually responding. When someone says "whatever" after another person had said his or her piece, that someone has essentially put up a wall between the two and halted any progress in communicating.

In other words, Sakura was not apologizing for hitting Naruto. _"And still,"_ Sai observed as Naruto stood up to chat with Sakura, _"And still Naruto doesn't seem to mind it. Or maybe he is not aware of it."_ He focused his sight solely on the girl then. _"Maybe I should ask her about it."_

Now, maybe Naruto wasn't perceptive of a lot of things, like for example of a crush a certain girl had on him ever since elementary school and then some, but he was too quick to notice when another set of eyes were lingering on Sakura.

"Hey!" he shouted, making a move to stand between the two. Facing Sai, he briefly looked over his shoulder to ask Sakura a question. "Hey, that asshole didn't do anything freaky to you while I was away, did he?"

"No," she responded, waving her hands, "Not really." It seemed Naruto had forgotten about the push-up bra so she wasn't in a hurry to bring it up again. "All he did was show me some really cool drawings he made."

"Really?" Naruto said, turning to Sai, "Can I see?"

"No," was Sai's one word answer.

"Yeah well," Naruto retorted, "I bet it's nothing special anyways."

"It really is nothing special," Sai responded with a smile, "Just like you penis."

Naruto turned red, first in embarrassment and then in anger when Sakura giggled. "You know what?" he shouted, "If you got a problem with me raise your fists so that I can beat you. I won't fight you if you hide behind words!" He had learned that from his experience battling Neji. Fists never worked well against highly educated words.

"I don't have a problem with you." Sai answered with his all too transparent smile. "I'm just playing the jerk because it fits best with this group."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked in confusion, going over the words spoken. Then he really got angry. "If you are doing it on purpose then it really is personal against me!" he yelled before storming off.

"Wa-Wait, Naruto!" Sakura followed, but not before scowling at Sai first and saying, "You know what, you are kinda rude!"

-x-x-x-(Four Hours Later)-x-x-x-

The Push-up Bra operation was a failure, if these two boys could notice it chances were everybody at school would also notice. Good thing she decided to do a test-run before actually trying it out on school. She saved herself from what could have been a really humiliating experience.

Technically, since that was all she came to do, she could've left hours ago. But something told her to stay. Naruto really wasn't getting along with his new co-worker, _"Not that I can blame him,"_ and she could tell he was really going to need a shoulder to lean on later. And besides, she had already dolled herself up. It'd be a shame for the outfit to go to waste.

At that note, she took out her digital camera and took a picture of herself. Cute!

For the hours, she kept wondering about the place, pretending to be minding her own business and occasionally playing a few of the games, as she waited for Naruto's lunch break. "Can't believe I'm doing this," She muttered to herself. During the wait she had even gotten a call from the last person she ever expected to call her, Ami. And that girl was suspiciously adamant in finding out whether Sakura was dating Naruto or not.

Weird

By noon, she watched Naruto storm off the arcade, muttering under his breath a spring of curses that she assumed were directed at Sai. But that was only guessing that Sai was the "asshole", "jerktard" and "fucking bastard" that Naruto kept referring to in his curses. It really could've been anyone.

"Naruto, wait up!" She said catching up to him, but he only stared at her in confusion before asking. "Why are you still here, Sakura?"

"Well…" she started. "_**You unappreciative bastard!"**_ Inner Sakura cried out a storm. How dared he ask something like that? Shouldn't he just be happy she was there at all? "Well, I ah…" Sakura stalled, still unsure of what to say. She didn't want to say she stayed because she was somewhat concerned about him. God knows she didn't need to boost his ego. The last thing she wanted was for him to ask her to even more dates. But she really hadn't anticipated that he would question why she was here. So she answered with the first excuse that came to mind.

"Ah Naruto, just here to tell you that I ah… finished my part of the project. You know, the Heaven & Earth thing"

"Eh?" Naruto replied, scratching the bridge under his nose, "You could've just texted that. No need to come all the way here for that" then he laughed, "Wow Sakura, and you call me stupid."

"CHA!" She punched him in the gut to shut him up, before pulling his right arm around him to keep him up as he staggered from the blow. "You insensitive idiot!" she mumbled, "Just for that you're paying for what I eat. C'mon, let's go to the Food Court."

Any pain the insensitive blond might had felt was quickly replaced with a warm happy feeling as he asked with a grin. "Ne, Sakura! Is this your way of asking me to a lunch date?"

"CHA!"

-x-x-x-(At the Food Court)-x-x-x-

There was a guy with golden blonde hair, blue eyes, scarred cheeks and fine muscle mass eating the Angus Burger he got from Burger King.

There was a hot chick with glossy pink hair, green eyes, small breasts and killer legs eating some chicken nuggets with honey-mustard sauce and a side-salad she'd gotten from Burger King.

Both of them were eyeballing the tall guy whose black clothing and dark hair made sharp contrast with his insanely white skin. He was eating a meatballs marinara foot-long from Sub-Way. He hadn't been invited to the table by either of the other two.

In an attempt to break the silence and the tension, Sakura observed the orange wristbands bought along with their meals. "So Naruto, what organization do those orange wristbands support?"

"Organization?" Naruto asked, staring at the bands curiously, "I only bought them because they were orange."

"Idiot!" Sakura responded, grabbing a wristband for herself to read the imprinted words. **"We Care"** "Huh?"

"It's to support the battle against self-harm and injury." Sai informed, well read on the subject, "Many people wear orange wristbands to create awareness of self-harm. It goes from the mentally abused to the kids that cause themselves physical injuries because of the decisions they make to escape their reality."

"Really?" Sakura commented, staring at the color of the wristbands, "But why would they chose orange for it."

"Why not ask Naruto," Sai offered, "He likes to dress up in orange and he is also a glutton for punishment."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Naruto shouted on the defensive.

"Well," Sai said in a lecturing tone. "I recall Hyuuga Neji being angry at that pussy, Uchiha Sasuke." The eyes of Naruto and Sakura twitched at that comment. If Sai noticed it, he didn't show it. "But instead of allowing the Hyuuga to confront the Uchiha, you threw yourself in front and willingly allowed Hyuuga Neji to walk all over you."

"That's enough!" Naruto shouted on edge, "Earlier you basically told me you wanted to learn how to make friends, well let me tell you you don't make them by insulting them like that."

"I'm sorry," Sai apologized but his complexion didn't change to an apologetic one or anything of the like. His complexion remained the same way it was when he insulted Naruto. "As a friend, was I supposed to lie and tell you didn't look like a pussy when right after the Hyuuga stepped all over you, the Uchiha did the same the very next day?"

"Grrr… I'll never accept you!" Naruto yelled, trembling in rage. "Don't think we're friends just because we work together. That position is already taken by Sasuke. You are just a temporary replacement until Sasuke comes backs! Trust me you'll get fired that day!"

"Naruto," Sakura scolded, "You're being rude."

"Rude?" Sai pondered aloud, "not really. It'll be better to establish that, after all, why would I ever want to be like that dickless homo who experienced just one downfall in his pampered life and instead of coping with it, he rejected everyone around him, skipped school because he was too prideful to show up after his wussy stunt and then ran away crying to another country because he was that much of a selfish pussy."

"Why you…!"

"Naruto!" Sakura interjected, grabbing him, "you're co-workers! If you punch him you could get fired!"

"I had it!" Naruto yelled, pulling away from Sakura and making his way back to work.

Sai could only ponder aloud, "Why does he care about Sasuke so much?"

"_**Dammit, just hearing his voice makes me angry!" **_Inner Sakura shrieked, encouraging Sakura to punch Sai really hard. But she couldn't. She wasn't kidding when she told Naruto not to punch Sai. There were mall-cops sitting two tables away from them and they were already staring because of the commotion. So instead, she tried to take the anger out of the voice while she answered.

"Sasuke is like a brother to him," Sakura defended on edge with Sai, "you have a brother too. You told me that picture book belongs to him. Can't you imagine what it'll be like to not have him there?"

"Hmm…?" Sai mused, "Yeah… sort…" he admitted, "since my brother already died."

That got a shock out of Sakura, making her loose the glare akin to poison she had been sporting, "Then you really should…"

"Hmm?" Sai wondered curiously, "Should I have used that kind of expression?"

"Eh?"

"When my brother died… I didn't know what face to put on when he died. Maybe I should've reacted like Naruto did just now." then he shrugged it off like if it was nothing, just small talk.

Sakura clenched her fist but opted to just stare at him in disgust, "Sai, to be honest, I really don't like you."

-x-x-x-(Back With Naruto)-x-x-x-

Naruto was glaring at himself in the mirror of the men's room. He was agitated and he needed to calm down before going back to work. Mr. Ebisu would scold him if he lashed out to any of his costumers just because of his current mood. Thankfully his thoughts were distracted by his beeping phone. He had received a text message.

Opening it up, he saw a text from Shikamaru that read "I know it's not my business but be careful with which girls you're seen with."

"_That's a weird text,"_ But before he could think more of it, his phone rang and the name of the caller ID made him smile. It was Kiba. "Hi dog-breath!" he answered.

"It's actually Shino," came the low sounding reply.

"Eh? But this is Kiba's number!"

"About him, were you offended when Kiba called you earlier?"

"Eh, what?"

"He might have made a comment about how he was jealous of you because he didn't have a father around to buy him a beer whenever he looked up women skirts. After he made the call he remembered that your parents are… well, you know. He did not offend you, did he?"

"Um, no… I really didn't think about it". Naruto answered honestly. Already being sixteen of age, he had long given up on finding about his real parents.

"I see… excuse me,"

Naruto could barely make out Shino telling Kiba to stop banging his head against the wall.

"Naruto, you there?"

"Yeah…?"

"Good, I will stay with Kiba until I'm sure he has not dumb himself too much. Hopefully we will be having more phone conversations in the future. Oh and Naruto"

"Yeah?"

"Kiba would like to know if you are currently dating either Ino or Sakura."

"Um… no." Naruto answered but then heard Kiba fighting Shino over the phone until quickly the call ended. "That's weird," Naruto thought, "Why is everybody asking me about Sakura and Ino?"

He heard a knock on his door, and got aggravated when he heard Sai's voice asking, "Naruto, are you in there?"

"What do you want now?" he yelled, opening the door. Sai simply asked him to follow and they went to find Sakura. After the three were together, Sai pulled out his sketch book and asked if he could do a quick sketch of them. Sakura was quick to ask, "What is this all about," and Sai answered that he wanted to apologize for upsetting them. Then Naruto asked how would making a drawing going to help, to which Sai replied, "I once read in a book that the best presents are the ones one makes himself, keeping the person he want to make the gift for in mind. I think my best talent is my drawing skill. So I wanted to make you both a gift out of it."

At that Naruto and Sakura were at a loss of words and simply stood there as Sai made a quick sketch of them. "I'll finish it later," Sai informed with a smile. "I'll give it once it's finished."

"O-Okay…" both Naruto and Sakura answered awkwardly. After that, the rest of the day went without further confrontations. Sakura left at six o'clock and a smiling Naruto followed her to her parent's car and saw her off. Sai took note of how much Naruto seemed to smile around Sakura.

It was around closing hour that Sai finally voiced his observations.

"You like Sakura, don't you?"

"What?" was Naruto's off-guarded response, backing down into a corner.

"I read it in a book, but a girl once told me… normal people always smiled around the person they like. And you're always smiling at her. Did you tell her how you feel?"

"Ah… ehh… I can't" Naruto looked downcast, "How can I when I couldn't keep my promise to her?"

"Promise?"

Naruto could tell Sai wanted to know, so before he asked, Naruto changed the subject. "He-Hey, Sai. Why do you always say… you read it in a book? Do you really have to read to know these things?"

"Oh…" Sai responded a little taken aback by the question. But he was really enjoying that he could have casual conversation with Naruto. So he opened up a little about himself. "I admit I'm behind in the social department. I… was homeschooled all my life. I was adopted very young so I have no memories of parents or if Sai was even my real name. The only human contact I usually had was with adults, my tutors and my guardian. So up until last year I had never needed to speak to people my age. When I did, I noticed I didn't know how to."

"Last year?"

"I was enrolled in Konoha last year. It was my first time attending a school." Sai took some time to ponder on it. "Not that it matters. I was placed there so that I could keep an eye on a certain someone. But now that someone is gone so by the end of this semester, I'll probably be removed from school as well."

Naruto felt like if Sai had just revealed something important but he couldn't put his finger on what. Still… "I still don't get the books? Why not just watch tv or something if you were homeschooled"

"Television is a waste of time, that's what Danzo always told me."

Naruto didn't really know what to make of what Sai just revealed but he could understand that maybe it wasn't Sai's fault he was so weird… creepy… rude…, it's just that maybe Sai didn't know how to make friends. Sakura had pulled him aside earlier and revealed that Sai's brother was dead. Naruto had never had to deal with the loss of a family member but Sai resembled Sasuke in that sense. And Sai also said he was an orphan, _"Just like me"_ Naruto thought. _"Maybe just maybe…"_

"Hey Sai!" Naruto grinned, "Wanna sit at my table next time at lunch break. You can eat with me and my friends at school too."

Sai studied him, "and if I say no?" he asked with caution.

"What! No way! I just made you an offer, you have to say yes!"

"Boy… you really do resemble him," Sai admitted with his first genuine smile of the day. He himself was amazed he could even smile like that. "My elder brother, he was talkative and he would lose his head. He had no manners and his dick was… Well, never mind. But yeah, like you, he went all-out with everything he did. When I look at you, I kind of remember him."

"Then it's a deal," Naruto smiled back, surprising Sai with it. Then Naruto grabbed the mike on the counter and announced, "Okay everybody, we're closing soon so use your last tokens and come get your prizes!"

It was when Naruto finished the announcement that he finally saw it. The red haired mass of death himself getting off the new DDR machine and making his way toward the exit. As he walked the people in his way quickly cleared out. There was one kid who didn't move out of the way and was bumped by Gaara's shoulder, making the kid stumble into the ground, butt first. It was at that moment that Gaara's face briefly turned to Naruto's direction and their eyes connected.

After that, Gaara just walked by the kid he tripped, not even apologizing for it.

"Sai…" Naruto said, his eyes still on Gaara, "close this place for me." And before Sai could even respond, Naruto was already running after the redhead.

-x-x-x-(Outside in the dark)-x-x-x-

Naruto had been running after Gaara ever since they exited the Mall, but every time the blond turned a corner he would see the redhead turning on the next corner. "Damn it," Naruto cursed, "How come he keeps getting away when I've been running all this time?"

Then the answer came to him. Gaara had been running too. _"But does he know that I'm following him?"_ Naruto wondered, though it would make sense of why Gaara kept turning in corners. He was trying to escape Naruto's field of vision. _"And the street lights around here are too dim."_ He thought, and the night was only getting darker. "I don't even know where I am anymore." He'd even stopped seeing people walking around about ten minutes ago. "I guess Gaara was really trying to ditch me." He finally concluded as he stopped running.

The only reason he hadn't lost sight of Gaara until now was because of his shiny red hair. But now, he decided he better just retrace his steps back before he really got lost.

"Meow" a cat purred.

"Whoa!" Naruto exclaimed, picking up the cat, "you're a tiny little kitten." He said looking around. "And your mom?" he frowned. "You lost her? Sorry, I don't have any food with me."

"Ahem," he heard someone clear his throat and saw it was Gaara, standing about ten feet away from him. Gaara stared between the cat and Naruto before asking, "So you make habit of stalking people and talking to cats?"

"Hey! I wasn't stalking and besides…" Naruto retorted, hugging the cat so that mean old Gaara wouldn't scare it away. At least that what the blond told the cat as he hugged it. "This cat was wondering here all alone and its painful being lonely," Naruto informed, "I was just being nice by paying attention to it." He finished before placing it down.

He turned to Gaara who was already walking away and shouted, "Hey!" Catching up to him, Naruto scolded him by saying "Didn't I just tell you it's nice to pay attention?"

Gaara stopped walking and stared past Naruto, to the cat that was now following the blond.

Naruto took notice and tried to stir the cat away. "Don't follow, I… can't take care of you." But the cat only meowed and rubbed himself against Naruto's leg.

"Here," Gaara said grabbing the cat, before mercilessly squeezing its ribs together causing the cat cringe in pain. When Gaara let go of the feline, it fell dead on the ground.

It was only when Gaara started walking away again that Naruto recovered his ability to speak. "What the hell did you do?" Naruto yelled, grabbing Gaara by the shirt and pulling him close to yell at his face, "what the fuck was that about?"

"You said you couldn't take care of him." Gaara answered calmly like if it saying so would excuse his actions.

"Bastard!" Naruto yelled, practically spitting in his face, "that didn't mean you had to kill it!"

"No," Gaara corrected, "That cat would have died. If it had a mother, it would be fed. If we both left, who else would come? It'll slowly starve to death on its own. And if that is all there is, what I did was only kinder."

Gaara removed himself from Naruto and started walking away. Naruto trembling on the inside, his legs refusing to budge from that spot as he glared Gaara down. He couldn't believe how unfazed Gaara was by murder. "This guy… is too cruel."

But before Gaara left, he spared some last words to Naruto.

"You said what you did was nice, by paying it attention. But all you did was give it false hope just to immediately take it away from it. If anything, what you did was even crueler…"

"…just another miserable existence."

_**-x-x-x-( End of Chapter Fifteen: "The Art of Expression" )-x-x-x-**_

**A/N: **I honestly do enjoy the character of Sai, he brings Naruto's feisty personality out and mentions aloud the things Sakura doesn't want to hear or admit. From my point of view he really is a great addition to the team. Anyways, noticed how Choiji, Ami, Shikamaru and Shino made mentions of their concern for Naruto's romantic love life? And what does Ino has to do with it? (Plenty) Read the next chapter and find out.

Next chapter shall be named "Stone Heart and Hand Grenade". It's the Gaara chapter, obviously. Did you catch the Naruto vs Gaara battle on the third Shippuden Movie? This fan boy was very pleased it.

Be sure to leave a comment, even if it's a simple "can't wait" or "nice!" I enjoy those and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Thank you for reading!

**A/N2:** Where I'm from, Burger King has this campaign against child abuse and to promote it they sell orange wristbands. Supposedly they picked the color orange because it means "tenderness".


	16. Stone Heart & Hand Grenade

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _NARUTO_, Kishimoto does. If I did, Naruto and Hinata would've had extremely graphic uncensored sex after the Pain incident. I would've gladly dedicated a whole volume for it.

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews; I'm awe-struck by the positive feedback. I come back with a lengthier chapter this time around because, apparently, you guys like it when it takes two or more hours to read. Plus it's Gaara, and he is my favorite character.

**Trivia: **My first encounter with _NARUTO_ was a re-run of the episode "Sakura Blossoms". It was Sakura who initially captivated me, so in a way, I started watching the series because of her.

**Quick Question:** Is it just me or did Kishimoto's Minato just challenged Shakespeare's Romeo on worst suicidal decision to make on account of cherishing the love of his life? But then again, choosing suicide is stupid on itself.

**Warning:** Use of filler and anime-cannon characters. You've been warned!

**A/N2: **I'm in need of beta-readers. Proof-reading this four times takes me as much time as it takes me to write it in the first place. And grammatical and spelling mistakes still manages to escape my sight. This time I only reread this twice so that I could update faster. I apologize in advance for any errors.

_**-x-x-x-(They say indifference is the opposite of love, so despise me if you must because even love can bloom from hatred)-x-x-x**_

**Chapter Sixteen: "Stone Heart & Hand Grenade"**

It wasn't always like this. They would've loved that to be true. But it was always like this.

The awkward dinners, the lingering stares and the forced conversations nobody knew how to start or how to end. This was the story of a blonde, a brunet and a red head. Three different sets colors, all bred by the same parents. When Temari was thirteen, she had tried to explain how it was possible for all of them to have a different hair color and still be siblings. She had studied Mendel in her biology class. That had been a topic of conversation neither of her brothers had cared about. Kankuro was too busy building puppets and Gaara didn't even consider the other two his siblings so he didn't give a damn.

It was always like this.

She tried, every day of her life, she tried. It was dinner time and her father was apparently not making it home on time, again. As such, she always felt the family dinner depended solely on her persona. She was the eldest of the siblings, after all. So be it take out or a half-ass cooked meal, Temari always tried to have the table set for dinner. A chance where Kankuro, Gaara and herself could sit together and hopefully allow the food to be what brought them together.

It worked half-way, at least. She_ did_ manage to physically have them all together. But then came the hardest part of the ordeal.

Initiating conversation

"I bought this at the new Chinese restaurant that opened next to the barbershop," she told them, "I heard it's as good as the one beside the Cinema". Kankuro tasted it and responded, "Pah, I don't know, I think they tricked you but its eatable at least. Right Gaara?"

Temari and Kankuro both watched in silence as Gaara continued eating, his eyes trained on his own plate. After two minutes the red head got fed up with the staring and growled out an "its fine".

Temari sighed to herself, _"it's always like this"_. No matter what she did it always felt as if Kankuro disvalued her efforts like the ungrateful brother that he was, and like if Gaara disliked being in the same room as them. She really wished her family dinner would feel like that one day. Like a family.

It was always like this.

Every single day Kankuro would watch it happen. He groaned to himself how much he hated being stuck in this situation. Temari would try something out, he would try to play along for her sake, Gaara would care less, and somehow Temari would hold Kankuro responsible for it. And to top it off, she would even shower Gaara with the best while giving him sloppy seconds. Don't think for a moment he didn't notice how Temari had hand selected the best looking plate for Gaara while giving him the worst looking one. But did she hear a complaint from Kankuro? No! But she would still think that Kankuro was not trying hard enough to aid.

"_Oh right,"_ he remember bitterly, "_I don't get special treatment; I'm the middle child."_

Still… he did understand what she was aiming for. _"I'm such a softie for my siblings,"_ he admitted to himself quite dismally.

"I entered an Art competition at **3-D Arts** the other day," he said, providing a topic.

Temari's ears perked up at that. "Is this like an event thing where people go and clap for the one they like the most?" she asked, already planning how to use this for her advantage. She prided herself on being a tactician.

"Well, yeah…" Kankuro answered, "I guess I could bring a…"

Temari mouthed the word 'friend'

"I guess I could bring a friend"

'but' Temari mouthed.

"But…" Kankuro continued, "I would prefer if…"

'Familiy' Temari cued again.

"I would prefer to you guys came with me, you know, to support your talented brother."

"Hmm," Temari hummed, pretending she was considering the idea. Kankuro felt like gagging at how much effort she placed into trying to make Gaara feel included. "Hear that Gaara?" she said, "I think we should go, right?"

Gaara didn't answer, but it was visually evident that he listened to the invite, if the way he just bent the spoon was any indication. It was his way of grouching. He disliked attending events. Temari sighed and looked downcast before kicking Kankuro underneath the table, urging him not to let a dialogue die.

"Yeah right so… I think I have a chance of winning. It'll be held this Saturday and I'm allowed to bring some people along. It would be great to have someone there supporting me."

There, he gave out an indirect invitation, set a date and place, and said he would appreciate it. Now all that was left was for them to take the bait, _"Because damn it I have my own pride to deal with and I'm not going to beg for attention."_

All they heard from Gaara was how slowly he ate his food. All they saw from Gaara was he would glare at his plate as if it was its fault that he had to go through this routine daily.

It was always like this.

And Gaara hated it.

Temari and Kankuro would try to force their daily lives own him like if he had nothing else to do than to go to wherever they wanted to take him. Was it really that hard for them to understand that he didn't care about what they did or didn't do? If Kankuro entered an art competition then good for him, _"Why should I care?_" If he wins a trophy or a scholarship then fine, Gaara was perfectly able of saying "Congratulations" but if that was not the case then Kankuro should keep his shit to himself.

"What he does with his life doesn't affect mine in the least." Gaara finally voiced glaring at Temari, who he knew orchestrated this.

"Don't give me that look, stare at your sister lovingly!" she shouted, hitting the table to place her fork and knife down. What was it with boys thinking they could give her attitude and walk away unscratched by it? "Beisdes, I bet there will be free food and there'll be a lot of guys your age, Gaara, who knows, _maybe_ a new friend will come out of this."

That did it.

"I'm leaving!" Gaara announced, throwing the rest of his food on the garbage can before heading outside.

"What?" Temari shouted, still from her side of the table. "Don't walk out on us!"

"Hey Gaara, chill," Kankuro tried coolly, trying to make his appeal not sound bossy. "Listen to you big sister on this one. Besides, where will you go anyways?"

"To remind myself I'm alive." Gaara answered, with his hand already on the door handle. Just one turn of it and he'll be out of this house.

"Gaara!" Temari tried again, "You can't continue doing this. It's not healthy for someone your age not to have friends."

"Friend," Gaara pronounced, tasting the monosyllable, "is just another word. Nothing more, nothing less."

Tonight wouldn't be the first time Temari and Kankuro would feel like failed siblings. And as they saw their youngest one leave, they knew it would probably not be the last.

**-x-x-x- Konoha High (Monday Morning) -x-x-x-**

The stares… the blond could feel them the minute he stepped within Konoha's gates. Those eyes that saw, those eyes that measured, those eyes that judged him; Eyes that held prejudice, eyes that held resentment, eyes that held disgust.

In those eyes he felt stupid. In those eyes felt ugly. In those eyes he looked like ass-wipe.

Whose eyes were staring? Who were those eyes staring at? Why were they staring?

The blond removed his bright orange jacket but the intensity of the stares did not let up on him. It was not the jacket they were staring at. _"Is at me."_

"Hi," Naruto would say to the first couple of guys he passed by. All would look away at the instant. He tried smiling at some of the girls he passed. They would grab the person nearest to them and… whisper things about him. He couldn't hear what they were saying so he had no proof they were talking about him but his gut instinct told him it was true.

But he saw it clearly when he entered homeroom. Before he entered he could hear his peers chatting loudly but when he entered, everything went into dead silence. And he knew it was because of him. They didn't even try to hide it.

No one wanted to meet his eyes. Well, except Gaara who seemed at home with the uneasy air and Shino who, well, nobody could ever tell where he was staring at with those indoor shades he always wore.

Ino was sitting/leaning on the teacher's desk taking attendance, and when Naruto entered she checked him off the list and announced that nobody was absent today. She did so, without batting an eyelash at her fellow blond.

"Um, hi Ino," Naruto said smiling, she being the first friend he'd seen that morning. But she gave him the cold shoulder as she made her way back to her desk. "Take your seat," was all she said while she took hers. The tone of her voice sounded annoyed, but before Naruto could ask if he did something wrong Mr. Kakashi Hatake entered and saluted the class with his usual, "Yo".

Naruto took his seat, and while Kakashi gave an open window view about what today's topic would be, the blond roamed his eyes towards his friends hoping one of them would debrief him. And so as he glanced Shikamaru's and Chouji's way, both of them reflexively tilting their faces way, Shikamaru massaging the back of his neck as an excuse to look away, and Chouji sneaking in some BBQ chips. Kiba looked anxious, like if he wanted to say something but couldn't. Hinata was looking downcast, taking short intakes of breath, and fidgeting with her fingers. Shino remained unreadable.

Sakura was sitting there yawning as she took notes of what Mr. Hatake was saying. Her body language offered no indication of being aware of his aid-seeking eyes. Repeat. She sat there without **ANY** indication of being empathic to his stress.

…what else is new?

He could still see the girls whispering and passing notes to each other while class was in session. Naruto felt himself sinking lower and lower into his desk at every word whispered.

Out of reflex, he met eyes with Gaara, the only person who wasn't looking away from him. Lastly, he stared at Ino, whom he was surprised to notice was staring intently at him. But as soon as their eyes met, she looked disgusted and looked away.

He felt something in his own eyes; they were stinging, watering…? _"Fuck no" _He thought trying to blink it away. He was not about to cry. Even if he was feeling something he hadn't felt in a long long time.

Solitude

Loneliness

Rejection

When was the last time he felt like no one in the room wanted him around?

"Ah Naruto!" Mr. Hatake then said, in a voice that hinted that he just remembered something. When Naruto came to, he saw Kakashi comfortably seated on the teacher's desk, with that weird one-eye smile of his. "I heard from a little bird that Jiraiya was back in town." He said expectantly.

Naruto squinted his eyes at his teacher's happy demeanor and took out a little green book from his backpack, entitled "Make Out: Tactics". He could've almost sworn he heard Kakashi giggle perversely when the book was made visible, reaching his hand out for it. The blond stood to deliver it and as he did so Kakashi did the unexpected and pulled Naruto by the wrist, bringing him closer to whisper a quick something before grabbing the book and letting go of him.

As Naruto took back his seat, quite flustered, he went over what Kakashi had just whispered to him.

"_Don't cry, your friends won't abandon you."_

"Psst," he heard Hinata timidly say from the desk behind. He looked over and she handed him a note written by Shino.

Naruto opened it and it read, "Make a paper ball with this and throw it to Shikamaru"

Naruto looked over to Shino and the shaded boy did a hand gesture of throwing a ball and pointed at the Nara.

Confused, but not able to think clearly because of the underlining tension, Naruto did just that and threw a paper ball at Shikamaru.

"Uzumaki!" Mr. Hatake shouted, "detention!"

"But but!" Naruto tried to say but was cut off by his face getting flattened against his own desk. Now he was sporting a bleeding nose. He stared beside him and noticed it was Chouji who pushed his head down. Angry, Naruto shouted. "What the fuck was that for?"

"For throwing a paper ball at my best friend, dumbass!"

"Akimichi!" Mr. Hatake shouted again, "detention!"

"Hahahaha," Kiba laughed at Chouji's expense, "Who's the dumbass now? Dumbass!"

"Inuzuka!" the teacher warned.

"No wait!" Kiba interrupted, frantically waving his hands about, "I was just agreeing with you my… er… favorite teacher?"

Kakashi sighed, _"Can't blame him for trying but…" _he shook his head, "detention!"

"Fuck!" Kiba huffed, crossing his arms indignantly.

Then slowly but filled with intent, Naruto, Chouji and Kiba turned to stare at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru frowned. _"Not a chance"_ he thought shaking his head at them. _"That demon I call mom will give me hell if a detention appeared on my report card."_

The other three continued glaring, their eyes accusing him of being a bad friend.

"_No way!"_ Shikamaru thought, shaking his head more fervently now. There was no way he was going to get himself in detention as well. That's where he draws the line at friendship.

"Nara," Mr. Hatake said calmly but accusingly, "Are you spacing out on my class?"

"Ah…" Shikamaru sighed and picked up his book, "I'll be going to detention now."

"Good," Kakashi responded, "You understand well."

As Naruto, Chouji, Kiba and Shikamaru embarked on their walk of shame to detention, with several of their peers snickering at them, they sent a stern sideway glare to Shino, who pretended he had nothing to do with this. His shades made him invulnerable to glares. One could practically see the halo above his head.

"Man, Shino better take lots of notes for us," Kiba complained as he swung open Room A-231 to serve detention. "But," he then said laughing at Naruto, "He knew you would act before thinking. He got you good."

Naruto frowned/pouted at that, not wanting to believe that Shino just pulled a fast one on him. Shino pranked him. Him! The king of pranks! How was this even possible and why did Shino even do it? Shikamaru sighed and told Naruto not to mull over it. That Shino just did it to help.

"Hiya Iruka-sensei!" They all greeted their teacher, noticing when they entered that he was the faculty member assigned to detention duty during first period. Their nose-scarred teacher was initially surprised to see the blond there but then he noticed the other three and shook his head like if it was a lost case to even argue about it. "With Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji." He sighed, "Why am I not surprise to see the four of you together in detention?"

"Heheh," Naruto laughed, "Cuz we're the cool kids, Iruka-sensei."

"Just sit down already," Iruka answered with resignation clear on his voice, "the four of you." It was his way of not encouraging juvenile behavior. Not that it ever worked.

The four just plummeted down to their chairs like if they were at a friend's house. That's how casual detention felt for them. "Anyways," Shikamaru yawned once everybody sat down, "I take it you haven't been in Facebook for a while, have you Naruto?" The blond shook his head no. "Figures… well to keep it simply the girls hate you."

"Eh?"

"And the guys want to be on the girl's good side so for now they're pretending to hate you too."

"Eh but why?"

"'Cause you're a two-timer, fox-face" Kiba laughed, but sweat dropped when he noticed Naruto was completely clueless about what he meant. "C'mon, Naruto, I read in Facebook that you practically had sex with Ino at the dance, and then you were all over Sakura when she was at her weakest."

"Wha-wha-what?" Naruto's face went from tan to pink to red in a split second, "I did not ha-have sex with Ino!" he exclaimed and then the three could practically see a question mark appearing above his head as he asked, "And what's this about Sakura at her weakest?"

"You're so dumb, Naruto," Shikamaru pointed out in the form of a complaint, "Didn't I tell you to be careful whom you're seen with?" He sighed, "Look, after Sasuke left Sakura was so destroyed, depressed, left with a low self-esteem, vulnerable, in other words, it was the perfect time for guys to pounce on her and get something _good_ out of it."

"Aha, aha," Chouji nodded before pointing out. "But the other guys didn't get close to Sakura because Naruto was always around her."

"Exactly," Shikamaru said, "And everybody already knew how you felt about Sakura, but at the same time they'd seen you get physical with Ino."

"Physical?" Naruto asked, honestly not knowing what the Nara was trying to convey.

"People saw you kiss Ino, not once but twice. All in the same days as when Sakura went from a silent sufferer back to her feisty confident self! But not only that, Sakura has also on her own initiative taken to seating next to you at every lunch hour!"

Kiba nodded at that. He was there when Naruto kissed Ino after all.

"But…" Naruto blushed thinking about how often he has gotten to eat with Sakura lately.

"Snap out it, you dimwit! Everybody thinks you and Sakura had sex" Shikamaru shouted, earning a scorning glare from Iruka in the process. Speaking during detention was not allowed. Raising their voices even less.

And did Shikammaru just say "sex"?

"Anyways," the Nara said lowering his voice but holding Naruto's attention. "Because everyone knows that you'd had a crush on Sakura since forever, people have taken it for a fact that your relationship with her is the real one. And because from what we've seen your relationship with Ino has been physical… people have tagged her as the 'other woman' in this."

"Other women?"

Shikamaru stared blankly as he answered. But his voice gave away that he was on edge. "It means that if Sakura and Ino are seen with you, the first will be viewed as the girlfriend while the other as a slut, a whore, a bitch and a home wrecker."

Naruto blinked twice at that statement, before asking, "But why would people think that."

"I don't know Naruto," the tired teen sighed again. This was all too troublesome for him anyways. "It's just women, okay," he said, "You know how they are, lying and conniving, never direct with their opinions and bent on hating on each other. Even girls who are supposedly best friends secretly hate each other for who knows what".

"Eh," Naruto started but remember he should practice thinking before acting. He went over everything Shikamaru just said but something still didn't make sense to him. "Okay so if women hate each other, why are they angry at me? Ain't I a guy?"

"Damn it Naruto!" Shikamaru shouted, "Because you can't keep your grubby hands to only one girl! People now hate you because you're playing with two women. And if that is not enough, Ino is also getting hated because of it. Ino can't take people bitching about her. She has worked hard for her reputation. Hard work is something I thought you admired but now because of you, she's on thin ice!"

Kiba and Chouji flinched at Shikamaru's volume. The Nara was usually a pretty laidback person, he really was, and he was not the type to get so exasperated. But there was only so much non-responsibility he could take. And the fact that Naruto remained oblivious to the consequences of his actions was literally driving Shikamaru's patience into oblivion. Because Naruto didn't understand what he was doing wrong.

The Nara exhaled exasperatedly, receiving yet another scowl from Iruka on the meantime before finally lamenting, "And the worst thing is that since everyone sees Sakura like the victim in this, Ino can't really afford to defend herself by quarreling with Sakura. The best thing she can do until she finds a way to fix this is stay to away from you both; so until then, please don't look for Ino and… we can't sit together during lunch either. Sorry, don't take it personally, but I have to stick by Ino's side on this one."

"Me too," Chouji said, "Ino, Shikamaru and I are a trio."

"And I…" Kiba said scratching the back of his neck, "I want to be with you on this one but I need to talk it over with Hinata and Shino. I can't drag them into something like this without their consent. See… Hinata can't really handle the glares."

"What?" Naruto said, teary eyed, "You're leaving me?" Everybody tried to look away as the blond gave his guilt-tripping puppy eyes while saying things like, "And here I am with a problem and the three guys I can count on and will protect if they ever are in danger are here ignoring me, kicking me to the side and pretending not to be my friends and…"

"We're not really leaving you Naruto," Shikamaru snapped, "We are just taking care of our inner circle first. Just because Sasuke, Sakura and you were a dysfunctional trio doesn't mean everybody else's is."

"We were not dysfunctional!" Naruto retorted, scowling at Shikamaru, who glanced towards Chouji, who munched on some chips before looking towards Kiba who then searched for the answer in Mr. Iruka who was obviously eavesdropping. Mr. Iruka sighed at Kiba who shrugged to Chouji who turned back to Shikamaru who restated, "You three are the meaning of dysfunctional."

"I know it's a drag but," he continued, "But hold your own for a while, chances are we just have to make something else happen to give people something else to talk about. Then this whole soap opera will blow over."

**-x-x-x-Next Period (Lab for Naruto)-x-x-x-**

"Ah… yes," chuckled the pale man, pulling his long green-like hair behind his pierced ears, "Too see your young faces again, it pleases me… kukukuku,"

He pulled his hair back again, with his right hand. And with those same long fingers of his, he caressed the side of his face and grinned when he said, "I have a… _special_ project for you today." He would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy how his students cringed at how he emphasized 'special' but it did leave him longing for more. Playing with people's fears was just too easy. His students didn't really entertain him as much. None of them were a challenge, like the Uchiha was.

"…," He scowled at the thought of losing such a promising prospect. Orochimaru had Lab class sort of 'suspended' in the previous weeks. He needed to nurse his broken heart after all. Though if asked, he instructed the faculty to say he was absent because of some sudden illness. In the meantime he had left instructions for the students to practice dissecting frogs and today he had come to class, rejuvenated and looking as evil as ever. Almost as if he had shed his old skin.

He noticed it in the way his students tried their best to avoid eye contact.

"We'll be learning about vertebrates today," he announced, instructing a random student to bring out the cage covered by a white blanket. The girl was known for having birds as pets. After she brought it to his desk, Mr. Orochimaru then pulled off the blanket to reveal a desiccated hawk. The choke-sounding gasp she let out was music to his ears. He could tell she wanted to glare but he knew she wouldn't. Most of his students would always avoid eye contact. Something about watching their deaths played through their minds if eye contact was ever established.

"Now…" he licked his pale lips, "Can anyone tell me what vertebral similarities birds have in common with fishes?"

"Well class…?" he repeated, holding on to that last _**'s'**_ as he _slithered_ around the students. "Yes," he chuckled, still holding the _**'s'**_, "Any volunteers?"

Nobody raised their hand to answer. Well… Shino did, but Orochimaru didn't spot him. The senses of a snake were attracted to the fear their prey displayed. He preferred to call those who were clueless, those who would pretend to be reading something intellectual while quietly praying not to be called, those who would be very vocal with their discomfort, someone like… "oh" he said, voice laced sweetly with intrigue. Just now, as he roamed his possible prospects, he noticed something he had… overlooked.

"Naruto," he smiled, causing the named boy to cringe at the sight, "With Sasuke gone, you no longer have a lab partner, do you? Kukukuku". The boy in question gulped down his discomfort and slowly confirmed the situation with a nod. "This just won't do," the teacher commented, "now what am I going to do with you?" he perked, pressing one long finger over the intercom.

_**Slam!**_

Principal Tsunade entered the lab, surprising both the students and the lab teacher. "Orochimaru, outside," she said, holding the door open for him.

"_That was quick," _he thought, intrigued by the sudden change of pace the day was taking. Outside, he noticed Tsunade was not alone. She had both Nurse Shizune and the psychotically troubled red haired with her. "Yesss," he was very intrigued. "Principal Tsunade, what can I do for you and thi_s…_" he inquired, licking his lips with that long tongue of his, "…boy."

"I've taken the liberty of changing Subaku no Gaara's time tables. He is doing extremely well on all of his classes but it seems he's finding it extremely difficult to connect with his peers. So maybe by assigning him to a different group he'll have a better chance."

Orochimaru turned to eye Shizune who was fidgeting a little. Chances were, she was the one who suggested this to Tsunade. But it did make sense in a way. The majority of the people in the other group were more of the shy and snotty academically oriented-type. While the majority of the group he was currently working with was so much more… livelier.

"Anything for an old colleague," Orochimaru answered, a grin on his face, "I know just _how_ to acquaintance this boy with his peers." He glanced at Gaara's hostile facial expression. _"This boy has a nice look on his face, with so much unfocused hostility. Kukuku, I'll enjoy this._"

Entering the Lab again, accompanied with Gaara, he searched the faces around the class. "_Now who's the most likely to get punched?" _he chuckled. Especially because he noticed that as soon as Gaara came into view, all the other kids tensed. _"He does have a nice malicious look on his face,"_ he thought stealing another glance at Gaara, only to notice the boy's eyes were no longer unfocused. He was glaring at Naruto. And Naruto was glaring back.

"_Yes,"_ Orochimaru all but moaned, _"Jiraiya's boy,"_

"Naruto," he instructed, "raise your hand so that Gaara will know who to sit with."

"Eh but,"

"With Sasuke-kun gone you need a new lab partner, right? Kukuku."

"I'm fine with it." Gaara spoke, surprising everyone.

**-x-x-x- At the Cafeteria (Lunch Hour)-x-x-x-**

It had been unbearable. "I'll show him."Naruto mumbled. Lab hadn't gone exactly as planned, not that he even had a plan to begin with. But if he had, it wouldn't have involved him stumbling over everything they did. He had tried to keep it cool and show he was the big man on campus but Gaara just stood there, said nothing, did the project and simply… stared, whenever Naruto messed something up.

But Gaara did say he was fine with being his partner, right? So Naruto, naturally, tried to open conversation. But Gaara never responded, and it was like 'Speech meets Silence', and 'Silence is absence of speech', right? So it was just like a Concentration Gradient. Meaning, the 'Speech' would move from a region of higher concentration to a place of lower concentration in order to bring out equilibrium. Like Osmosis.

"_See? I do know science stuff." _Naruto grumbled. It was scientifically proven that the less Gaara contributed to the conversation, the more Naruto would talk to fill out that empty space. But at the end of lab, Gaara just looked annoyed and muttered the second set of words he had spoken all day long. "Just like the cat you're in misery. Fix it or I will kill you."

"Is that his way of being nice?" Naruto grumbled yet again, grabbing a seat and an empty table. "Figures he's just like Sasuke," he sighed, "Mental."

"Haha," he laughed at his own joke. "…," he sighed, the table really was empty. Nobody was going to sit with him today according to Shikamaru. "Some friend he is."

_**Wham!**_

"Here," Said Sakura, letting a basket of goods drop on the table.

"_Oh yeah!"_ Naruto thought brightly, _"Sakura always sits with me now." _"Hey Sakura!" He greeted cheerfully. Then he pointed curiously at the basket and asked, "Is this for me?"

"Duh, Naruto. That's why I brought it, you lonely dunce" she answered like if it was the most obvious thing in the world. In reality, she was in fact well aware of the difficult situation Naruto was on. But she was also aware that she herself was on a safe zone. So should she really throw herself in the fire for Naruto? _"Nah," _she shrugged, being around Naruto didn't harm her reputation at all. It does affect his but… she shrugged again. _"My Naruto always bounces back. He always does."_

And just like that, she felt guilt free about not doing anything to prove to rumors wrong or help Naruto out of it. Did that make her a horrible person? Not really. It was just the sense of 'survival' kicking in. Did this make her out as a bitch towards Naruto? Probably, but has she ever not been one? She punches him as often as people say "Hello". Did this mean her heart was as fickle as the Autumn Skies?

Was there even a need to ask?

"_Oh well,"_ she shrugged again, _"It's not like I'm a bad person. I'm not letting him sit alone, right?"_

"Thanks Sakura!" Naruto said opening the basket, "brownies!" he said excitedly as he shoved three full ones into his mouth. _"I can't believe Sakura would bake brownies for me! She must really like me!"_

"Now don't get any ideas," Sakura said nonchalantly, waving dismissingly towards the gift. "It's not like if I made them for you or anything. It's just that I made them but my parents weren't eating them so I…" she stared at Naruto, whose eyes were watering. "Um, Naruto?"

"_Sakura…,"_ Naruto thought, trying to fight off his gag reflex, "_I can't eat this… it' horrible but she… she made them for me so I have too."_

"Do you like the brownies?" Sakura asked excitedly, confusing the tears of his self-punishment for those of uber gluttony. "I really added a lot of stuff to make sure they were nutritious brownies," she said leaning closer, "these are the best brownies you'll ever eat, I…" And as Sakura continued to boast about how healthy her brownies were, Sai inconspicuously sat down with them and helped himself to one of those _healthy_ brownies.

"What's this?" He asked, interrupting Sakura's boasting. He then grabbed a napkin and spat the chocolate out, "Are these mud balls?" he then asked.

Naruto shielded himself out of reflex.

"Why you!" Sakura shouted, raising her fist.

"Here," Sai offered, shoving a brownie down Sakura's currently screaming mouth. "Taste."

Sakura's face turned blue. In the next minute she picked up the basket, threw it in the dumpster, plummeted back at the table and stole half of Sai's meal as payback. "Okay, so it doesn't taste _that_ good," she admitted, but that was all she was willing to admit about her cooking.

Naruto then relaxed and agreed, "Yeah Sakura, I thought my insides were burning. It was nasty."

"Na. Ru. To!" She gritted her teeth but forced herself to relax. She was aware of the situation, and in all reality, she practically had nothing to worry about because everyone was on her side. But Naruto had it harder so for now she would repress her reflexes to the best of the capabilities and try not to smack Naruto in public.

She could be a good friend when she wanted to be.

"By the way," she then noticed, "Why are you here, Sai?"

"Naruto invited me," he answered with his polite smile, before handing out two gifts wrapped in black. "I finished the drawings. I made them for you two. Do you accept them?"

Naruto and Sakura stared at each other and remembered Sai had asked to make a sketch of them.

"Oh cool!" Naruto said grabbing the present with his name on it. He was eager to see how Sai drew him. _"I bet I look so freaking cool!"_ Naruto thought as he ripped through the wrappers.

He almost had a nosebleed.

It sketch was of Sakura…

…naked.

"Do you like it?" Sai asked.

Naruto's face turned ten shades of red. "What is it?" Sakura asked trying to sneak a peek but Naruto pulled it to his chest and shook his head no. "Whatever," she said rolling her eyes. "I'll just open mine".

Now, Naruto was by no means a genius. But if Sai offered to sketch both of them, and he gave Naruto a naked portrait of Sakura then this meant that Sai gave Sakura…

"No, wait!" Naruto yelled.

Sakura opened it, Naruto froze and Sai asked… "Do you like it?"

"Naruto…" she spoke in a strained voice, "Am I in your sketch?"

"Eh… maybe?"

3… 2… 1…

"SHANNARO!"

**-x-x-x-At the Cafeteria (Five Minutes Later)-x-x-x-**

Sai studied his face in the compact mirror Sakura had lent him. His left cheek was really red and every time he touched it or tried to speak, he could feel it burning. So he tried not to speak, even when his curiosity was getting the best of him. He really wanted to know why Sakura had smacked him.

Naruto was resting the side of his face that wasn't injured on the table. He understood why Sakura decked Sai. He really did but… _"Why did she have to hit me too?" _he mulled.

Sakura was resting on the table, the same way Naruto was. She knew Naruto's popularity had taken yet another toll. Even the people who weren't staring cringed at the resounding sound of her fist making raw contact with her friend's skin. _"So much for not hitting Naruto today,"_ she sighed at the concept of not being able to place Naruto's situation before her own. _"Oh who was I trying to kid?" _she shrugged_," I'm not a kind friend, everybody already knows it."_

Naruto, Sakura and Sai were slowly finding the will to start eating again when before they knew it a chair was being pulled back and a boy sat there soon after.

"Shino!" Naruto shouted, immediately remembering he got detention because of Shino's directions.

"Don't you normally sit outside?" Sakura asked, finding it weird that Shino was not eating outside like he usually did, under a tree or something of the like.

The boy in question pointed at the hallway and said, "I'm just doing what they themselves wanted to do." The pain-glutton, the unkind friend and socially awkward teen immediately followed where Shino was pointing at and saw Kiba's and Hinata's faces peeking near the door frame before quickly disappearing. Ten seconds later those same two faces entered and started glancing around like they were looking for something. Then Kiba pulled an _'oh-there-you-are'_ face and said, "Oi Hinata, I found Shino"

If Shino hadn't had his sunshades on, everybody would've noticed how he rolled his eyes.

"Well since you're eating inside," Kiba said, pulling out two chairs for Hinata and himself, "Hey Naruto," he said, "We'll be sitting here." Then he mocked whispered, "Shino gets lonely if we are not around. Right Hinata?"

"Y-Yes," she answered.

Shino resisted the urge to face-palm. Kiba really couldn't be more obvious, heck, there were three people other than Shino sitting at the table and Kiba only mentioned Naruto's name. Obvious much? But to think Hinata would actually play along with Kiba's obvious act. But then again, it's not like if Hinata was humanly capable of saying "no". Still, nobody was stupid enough to fall for that act.

"Ohhh," Naruto nodded in understanding, "I didn't know Shino got lonely easily"

If this was an anime, a rain cloud would've developed over Shino. He really felt like head-desking.

Before starting to eat, Naruto noticed Sai and Shino were throwing some awkward glances at each other. "Oh right," he concurred, "You two have never met before."

"Sharp of you to notice, Naruto." Shino complimented. Naruto did have redeeming qualities after all.

"This is Sai," Naruto introduced, "He's from Bushy-brows' year and he is sorta gloomy and depressing, creepy, like….he's missing something." He said, giving it a little more thought, "He's just a weird guy who's constantly reading books because he doesn't know how to work a TV."

"…Naruto…," Sai said, looking downcast. Even those who were not familiar with him felt a tinge of pity.

"But," Naruto continued, "Sai draws great, his drawing are really," Naruto blushed, remembering Sakura's nude picture, "ehehehehe." The pervert giggle drew curious glances from everyone but Sakura, who felt like neutering a certain… someone.

"And this guy is Shino," Naruto then said pointing at the hooded teen, "Um… Shino gets lonely easily and he is… well, Shino."

Everybody sweat dropped at the introduction, except Sai who was taking it all in. He even pulled out a small notebook with a 0.5mm mechanical pencil.

"You're Shino Aburame, correct." Sai asked, "You're the son of Shibi Aburame and you have participated in numerous expeditions with the team of researchers and bug catchers relying on your skills in search and seizure. Right? You're father's company is rather active in the government, always preventing the projects that could harm our ecology."

"Ohh," Naruto awed, "Hey Sai, how do you know so much about Shino? Makes him sound important."

"You've done your research," Shino said in a neutral voice, "But I guess that goes without saying. After all, you are the adopted son of Congressman Danzou. Our fathers are always refuting each other." He revealed, gaining awes from everyone at the table.

"Well now that we know each other," Naruto said, rubbing his hands together, "let's really dig in!"

"Naruto," Shino said before Naruto could even reach for his fork, "My favorite foods are wild grass salad and winter melon."

"Huh?"

"I don't like… foods that have a strange odor."

Sai wrote that down, "I see,"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the information, "…so what of it?" he asked.

"We've been on the same classes and been going to the same school for years. We should know more about each other. It is only normal." Shino answered.

"Yeah but," Naruto scratched the back of his head, "it doesn't really matter what kind of food you like. I don't cook."

"Naruto…" Shino said, a visible cloud of depression looming over him. "You really need to know more about me. It would be strange if a newcomer knew more about me than an old friend."

"But," Naruto started, hoping someone else would jump in and take over the conversation. All he really wanted to do is eat. But all he received were expectant glances from Sakura, Kiba and Hinata. And all Sai did was give encouraging nods. Naruto sighed defeated. "Okay, what else do you like?"

**-x-x-x-Meanwhile at another Cafeteria table-x-x-x-**

"Ino! Ino! Ino!" the crowd kept shouting, giving her trouble. _"Figures,"_ she thought bitterly, _"They cast me out as a whore but the minute the need me they come back chanting my name."_

She sighed; expertly looking annoyed and superior as she slowly flipped her bang out of her right eye so she could stare at the faces of the people crying out for her. It had its effect. The people backed down a little, reverting to their conditioned mentality administered by years of social standing. When crowding the most popular girl in class, they have to keep their distance as if she was being displayed inside a spacious crystal box.

Like an expensive Barbie doll.

"Ino, our table," they whined, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at them. She furrowed her perfect brows together. These kids prying for attention were by no means popular but they weren't at the bottom of the food chain either. They were the normal ones. The ones that never posted themselves for an election, the ones who never tried to be the president of their own club, the type who got good overall scores without being a teacher's pet nor looking the part. They were the grey students. The one the teachers never worried about. The ones who never really flunk or excel at anything…

… The masses!

That only meant that the table they were complaining about was the biggest one on the cafeteria, so she took a quick glance and understood their trouble.

Gaara was sitting there.

Alone

"Doesn't Gaara normally sit on the floor, around a corner?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah," the masses answered, "But now he's there and when we try to sit, he glares. It's creepy."

"_Wimp!" _Ino's mind shouted but she just stared at them blankly and said, "…so? Glare back."

"Can't you just do something about it?" they asked, "Aren't you like his class rep? Do something."

She narrowed her eyes. They were throwing her status at her face. This was already a dangerous game. Normally she would just flip her hair, laugh and blow them off and maybe even tell them to grow a pair. Normally… but right now her superior social standing was in jeopardy. However, anyone's reputation could be fixed by the word of mouth. So she needed the support of the masses. So she did what any politician would do in her situation. Bait their trust by putting on a fake smile and pretending to care.

"And what exactly do you want me to do?" Ino asked, earning appreciative smiles and relieved sighs from her peers.

Hook, line and sinker. Truly an art of democracy, America be blessed.

But then someone had to break the mold. "Find him somewhere else to fit in." One requested rudely.

Now Ino was pissed. "Out," she said, shoving them aside. But when she moved within fourteen steps of Gaara he raised his sight from his meal and locked eyes with her.

She was petrified on her spot. _"Damn, this is the same psycho that assaulted Sakura. A girl!_ _What am I supposed to do? How do I engage him without placing myself in harm's way?"_

In a way she felt like Spiderman with that saying which went, _"With great power comes great responsibility."_ Not that she cared for make-believe super heroes but she did connect with the saying. _"But wait! Don't superheroes have side-kicks?" _She quickly glanced back to her table but only saw two empty seats that were previously occupied. Her ear caught the sound of doors opening quickly. She looked to the exit and saw Shikamaru and Chouji running out. _"Cowards!" _She inwardly shouted, _"I'll remember this. Tonight I'm calling your mothers!"_

"C'mon," Somebody from the crowd said.

"_Darn,"_ Ino thought about her situation. Right now she was being ill-willed because of the Naruto thing. Having the masses group like this for her aid was heaven sent. It gave her a chance to wipe her slate clean with them and earn their gratitude in return. But she knew better than to address Gaara without a game plan.

She was the class rep, and as such she made it her priority to know the most she could about every single one of her peers. Gaara was a loner. He never communicated with anyone. And those who invaded his space ended up unconscious, like Lee did, or stuffed for an entire weekend inside a locker, like Dosu did. Gaara got suspended for the entire week that followed because of that. But now he was sitting at the most crowded table of the cafeteria? It just didn't match up.

She needed time to figure that enigma out, and frankly she was hoping somebody else would do it before she found herself in a position where she would have to take charge. It's not easy being the class rep.

Right now, she needed more time but she also needed to act fast. She needed a life-line. She needed to come up with something bright.

She spotted orange.

"Naruto," she said and everybody quieted down. _"Damn, I forgot we weren't supposed to speak to each other… but this could work. Yeah, he's in the same boat as me."_

"Ino?" Naruto said surprised, his eyes opening wide with too much emotion. She had to look away at the un-coolness of it. How many times has she already told him that cool guys knew how to mask their emotions?

"Listen Whiskers," she said lowering her voice so she could whisper to their table. "I need to ask you a favor that could help us both. How's your relationship status with Gaara now?"

Everyone at the table shuddered by that name, except for Sai who can't comprehend fear, and Shino who was still quietly sulking.

"Um, we're lab partners."

"You are?" Ino said surprised, but then shook it off, "Good, this means you are on speaking terms. Can you please, maybe, invite him to your table?"

"What?" Naruto, Kiba and Sakura shouted.

"Think about it," she told him, "Befriend one of the most un-friendliest people in school and you will earn the other's forgiveness and admiration."

Sakura didn't like the plan. Naruto didn't like it if it made Sakura uncomfortable. Kiba took it for what it was and encouraged it. "This could be what we were waiting for," he voiced. True, he didn't like the idea of sitting with Gaara but if it would help Naruto. "I wouldn't mind" he forced out. Dangerous or not, an Inuzuka would always look out for his friend.

"What wait, no!" Sakura immediately shook her head, voicing her opposition. "Hell no!" She wouldn't have it. There was no way she was sharing a table with the psycho who struck her. She had to cut her hair because of him. Being in the same homeroom as him was already asking too much. If she could help it, she would make sure the red head and her never cross paths again. Besides, the whole proposition sounded like bullshit. "Invite him to your own table!" she rebuked.

"Eh, what, I" Ino stumbled, _"Dammint Sakura! Don't make this harder on me!"_

"I don't trust her, Naruto." Sakura said, "She's up to something."

"But I wanna help." Naruto responded, and then repeated the statement in his mind. _"I want to… help… Ino."_

The cafeteria dropped to an eerie silence when Naruto moved towards Gaara, the sound of his steps reminiscent of those of an infant about to cross the street with looking at both sides first, with the street sign spelling 'Don't Walk!' and the street lights turning green.

It was a traffic accident about to happen.

And all anyone could do was watch it unfold in slow motion.

As Naruto took the seat right across Gaara, everybody got ready to bite their fingernails. When Gaara met eyes with Naruto, his glare was like an imposing spiritual pressure, weighing down the blonds' already fleeting courage. Too bad his courage held no candle to his stubbornness.

For a brief moment, the cold murder of the cat flashed through Naruto's mind. He was now seating with the killer who felt no remorse for his actions.

He tried to say something. He even moved his hands as if he wanted to point something out. But he stale. Now that he had his hands up he felt like if he needed to do something with them. He also needed to say something. Gaara had stopped eating the instant Naruto took the seat, and now all he did was glare.

"Hi!" Naruto said extending his arm and ruffling Gaara's blood red hair as he did so. And just like that the air became so much more unbearable. Gaara's intent to murder the person who _touched_ him was so thick in the air it was suffocating. And Naruto reacted by laughing nervously. Then his stomach growled and he remembered he hadn't eaten yet. And that he didn't bring his food to this table. _"Damn!"_ He started at Gaara's half-empty plate. It had a burger and French fries.

Fries…

**-x-x-x-Meanwhile at Ino's table-x-x-x-**

"Shit," said Chouji, who out of nowhere appeared beside Ino, "Doesn't Naruto knows not to touch a psycho?"

"Dammit Ino," Shikamaru then said, appearing at the other side of Ino, "Why'd you sent Naruto there for? He doesn't even know the meaning of self-preservation."

"Oh c'mon, he knows what's he's doing." Was what Ino wanted to say, but as soon as she started saying it, she saw Naruto grab a French fry out of Gaara's plate.

Everyone could already feel Gaara's anger boiling up.

Hinata fainted from its proximity.

"Kiba!" Ino quickly said, "Get there and pull Naruto out before it's too late!"

She couldn't afford having 'assisted a homicide' written on her permanent record.

"I want to but…" Kiba started saying, but under the table, his legs were shaking so bad. He was afraid that if he tried to stand, his knees would buckle.

"Ino, do something!" A random other said. She watched the scene again. With the way Naruto was constantly moving his arms about it was obvious he was nervous, but he was enduring it.

"_But if he keeps flailing his hands like that he might accidentally…"_

The blond accidentally spilled Gaara's drink on the red head himself.

Naruto froze

Gaara pulled his chair back.

Ino started running.

"Move it!" she shouted as she made her way to the only safe alternative she could come up with at the moment's notice. And she toppled every single person (**Read:** Ami) that was on her way and she didn't apologize for it. She did avoid Mr. Asuma as he was exiting the faculty lounge when he saw her running at top speed in the hallway. He was about to do his job and say "no running", but Ino ran right pass him, yelling a "Sorry Mr. Asuma! Class Emergency!"

The doors to the Principal's Office were rammed open by the teen, and with two quick glances she spotted what in Monopoly would be her jail break card.

The school bell

**-x-x-x-Back at the cafeteria-x-x-x-**

Gaara stood up, his body practically convulsing with the intent to kill. Naruto was laughing nervously.

_Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!_

"Eh?" Naruto said surprised but then frown, "Lunch hour already over?" he whined, "I didn't get to eat." Then he stood up and left the table to do locker, just like the rest of the confused students did, leaving the angered red head glaring at the retrieving head of the blond.

**-x-x-x-Back to the office-x-x-x-**

"This should do it," Ino sighed, her hand still on the switch, still waiting for her breath to catch up to her. She rang the bell, like twenty minutes too early. The faculty and students must be in chaos and confusion right about now. But she did it. This will probably be enough to save Naruto.

"Hehe," She giggled. It was like American Football and she has never before felt like such a quarterback. True, she was on a mission with the life of Naruto on the line but she could now understand why boys loved playing this sport.

"_Now all I have to do is leave before anyone notices it was me,"_ she thought, moving stealthily towards the door. Like a ninja. But the Matron stopped her before she could reach the door handle.

"Miss Yamanaka."

"Eep!" Ino squawked at the voice behind her. She turned around and saw Principal Tsunade sitting comfortably behind her desk. _"She was there all along?_" She thought freaking out. So the Principal was there when Ino rammed to the office, rang the bell, panted, recovered from her miniature panic attack, and tried to escape. "Damn it! It was lunch break!"she shouted exasperatedly but quickly covered her mouth before she infuriated the Principal. She did, however, finished the rest of her sentence mentally. _"Damn it! It was lunch break! Give me a break! Shouldn't she be in the faculty lounge or something?"_

"Take a seat," the Principal requested, with her poker face on. "I'm sure you're dying to explain to me the reason you disrupted our school hours. But before that," she smiled as she pressed the intercom.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," Shizune's nervous voice was heard through it.

"Can you come by the office and find me Yamanaka Ino's permanent record." She glanced at her alumni, "Oh and bring me a pen with red ink."

Ino shrunk into her chair, one thought in mind. _"Was Naruto really worth this?"_

**-x-x-x-After Last Period-x-x-x-**

At the end of the school day, while Naruto was doing locker, Sakura stayed beside him telling him how unfair Mrs. Ayame was with her. Apparently Cooking-Ed was the only class where Sakura wasn't going to get an A by the end of the semester. In other words, the situation should be treated like the end of the world and Naruto should do something to warm Mrs. Ayame's heart into passing Sakura with an 'A'.

Sai was there too, beside the two. He really wasn't contributing anything to the conversation but he was there.

Today had been hectic, not only because of the Gaara incident but because of the rumors surrounding them. In the span of the day, the rumors had gone from "Naruto is a two-timer, Ino is a whore," to "Naruto and Sakura survived their first lover's quarrel. She punched him once and then it was all forgiven" to "Sakura's self confidence is so low she allows her boyfriend Naruto to be bossed around by Ino," to "Naruto is so cool! Did you see the way he drenched Gaara with his own drink?" And finally to, "Ino bailed on the normies and ran out of school while Naruto, remembering how Gaara had hurt his main girl, Sakura, confronted him during lunch break."

The last rumor was based on the fact that Ino hadn't attended the rest of her classes after she ran out of the cafeteria. In other words, with each passing rumor, Naruto's reputation seemed to increase while Ino's went down the drain.

Of course, Naruto was oblivious to the rumors. His ears only processed whatever Sakura told him.

"Oh," Sai said, catching both Naruto and Sakura's attention, "I guess the information I received was inaccurate. That girl is still here."

By girl, Sai meant Ino, who was trying to make her way out as bunch of girls crowded around her.

"Ino where were you?" one of the girls asked, "I thought you decided to skip."

"Nah," Ino responded evasively, "I was held up at the Principal's office. Class business"

"Hey Ino," Naruto greeted out of reflex. Now that he had done her the favor with Gaara he figured they were on speaking terms again. But just as she heard him call her name, she glared in disgust and ditched him by strutting right pass him without exchanging words.

"Ino?" Naruto said again, this time making an attempt to follow her. He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder placed by Sakura. The pinkette shook her head at him and told him "it will only make matters worse if you follow her".

**-x-x-x- Later that Day at Jiraiya's apartment -x-x-x-**

Naruto was at the kitchen table, phone in hand and waiting for the clock to hit 7:00pm. Jiraiya was also sitting there pretending to be writing, but in reality he was curious as to why Naruto had spent the last two hours staring at the hour.

It was now 7:00pm

The teen speed dialed and held the phone to his ear.

Someone answered their phone at the other end.

"Ino!"

She hung up in less than a second.

"Eh?" Naruto said, dialing again and getting the same result over and over again. By the fourth time Naruto dialed the number, Jiraiya snatched it away and hung up for him. "Hey!" Naruto yelled indignantly.

"Whoever you're calling doesn't want to talk to you." Jiraiya answered.

"But,"

"Look brat, it isn't that hard. If this person wanted to talk to you she would be doing so right now. The fact that she answers it immediately instead of letting it ring means that she is not ignoring you or pretending to not be there. It means she is aware that you are the one calling and that's why she doesn't want to talk to you. The fact that she hasn't turned her phone off to avoid you all together means that she is fine with other people calling her, as long as it's not you who does. So stop calling, it makes you look desperate and it gives them power."

"But but," Naruto looked downcast, "I always call Ino at this hour but she's mad at me and I couldn't talk to her at school. So I have to speak to her now!"

"Oh?" Jiraiya said, his ears perking up that Naruto's depressed tone. He ran through the multiple images of women his mind kept stored and located who Ino was. "OHHHHHHHH!" Jiraiya said again in excited realization, before in a silent prayer thanking whatever god there was there for making Naruto fall for a hot girl, and not a weird one.

"_My boy has good taste,"_ Jiraiya thought with proud tears crowding his eyes, _"Minato, Kushina, I raised your son well."_

But know to get the scoop.

With a perverted smile on to the maximum level, Jiraiya scooted his chair next to Naruto, placed one arm around his shoulders and said, "So girl trouble, eh? Why don't you tell your old man _all_ about it?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Naruto frowned but then just sighed and started talking. "Apparently I'm dating Sakura and Ino at the same time but people…"

Jiraiya tuned him out right after the part where Naruto said he was dating two girls at the same time. _"Two girls at the same time!"_ he thought with fascination. _"Minato would be so proud of his son. Kushina, I'm sorry! Please accept my humble apologies. I trained Naruto too well."_ He then noticed Naruto had stopped speaking and was looking at him like he expected some sort of advice. And advice was just what Jiraiya was eager to give. But because of his respect to Kushina, he would only give the right kind of advice.

"Naruto," he said with the air of an experienced man, a veteran, "The heart of a woman is a very precious and delicate thing. If you are going to love a women commit yourself to just one." He nodded to himself and made a point to publish his following advice on his next novel. "It is not with the head above your shoulders you should think with when deciding between two women. It is the head below which will point you to the girl you really want."

"…"

Naruto didn't really manage to sleep that night.

Jiraiya had the best sleep he had gotten in a while. That night he felt like world's best father… even if technically he never had children of his own… at least none he was aware of.

**-x-x-x- Yakushi Hospital (Tuesday Morning) -x-x-x**

The walls were white, the air smelled of disinfectant, and the stools were hard to sit on. But apparently this was the place that handled the worst of every disease. The doctors and staff were the highest rated, and of course, the procedures were expensive. But Jiraiya had insisted they needed to do things right the first time and worked to gain all the money they would need to pay for whatever operation was required.

Today was a decisive one. It would be the first time Naruto's condition would be dealt with head on. Even if today was just to do a check-up and report what was already known.

Naruto was sitting as idle as he could with Jiraiya seated to his right, snoring, and an overly talkative twelve years old to his left. The kid had long and eerie dark blond hair, with purple eyes, and an apparent obsession with Camellias, judging by the way he was dressed. His name was Yukimaru and he liked to ask a lot of questions.

"Hey, mister," Yukimaru said, tugging Naruto's shirt, "want one?" he said referring to his newly opened bag of Tropical Skittles.

"Okay," Naruto answered, taking an orange one to his mouth.

"How does it tastes like?" the boy asked.

"Um… tangy?"

"Ah," Yukimaru said, reading the words on the back of the candy wrapper. "It says orange ones are Mango Tangelo."

"Okay," Naruto answered, looking around to see the other patients at this exclusive hospital. There was a girl named Isaribi. She had shoulder length dark hair and an uneasy smile. But her most striking feature was the huge chunks of her skin that seemed to skip from normal-looking to scaly green. Like if she was some sort of sea monster or mermaid.

"Hey, mister," Yukimaru said, tugging Naruto's shirt again, "Want another one?"

"Um… alright," Naruto consented, this time tasting a blue one.

"How did it taste like, mister," the boy was soon to ask.

"Eh… I dunno… bad,"

"Um," Yukimaru checked the wrapper again, "The blue one is Pinaple Passion fruit. Hehe, you ate Passion."

"Hehehe," Naruto laughed awkwardly, which seemed to work because the kid smiled and continued reading the wrapper.

Naruto sighed and stared at the other patients again. He was immediately startled by what he saw but quickly disguised it with a cough. He saw _twins_ arguing with one another. One yelling, "Sakon, you're too slow!" and the other yelling "Ukon you are too impatient."

What startled Naruto about these twins was not their dark bluish-gray hair with long bangs that covered one of their eyes. Nor the turquoise lipstick and brown eyeliner that made their appearance look feminine. What startled him was that they were literally joined by their backs. Like if they were sharing the same spinal cord even though they had their individual necks.

"Hey, mister!" Yukimaru called once again, tugging on Naruto's shirt. "Want to try another one?"

Naruto stared at the almost full bag of Skittles. _"Why does this kid keep offering me his candy? And why hasn't he tasted a single one yet?" _Naruto wondered, but then again the other people in the room were here because they were obviously seeking some type of medical aid. Yukimaru seemed to be fine physically. So if this boy was here, it meant that he must have some sort of internal condition or maybe something even mental.

"Okay, but this is the last one okay" Naruto said, accepting a pink one. And just as he guessed, as soon as he tasted it the kid was asking him what did it taste like. Naruto answered "like strawberries," and the kid smiled and said it was "Strawberry Starfruit."

Observing his surroundings again, Naruto saw a white haired man with bones sticking out of his body. Naruto hadn't heard his name yet but he wouldn't have to wonder for long. A door opened and out came a man wearing a white lab robe and holding clinical folders in his hands. He had black eyes with grey hair kept in a ponytail and wore circular glasses. In his nametag was written "Dr. Kabuto Yakushi".

"Well what a surprise," Kabuto said laughing comically, and almost… mockingly? He marched up to the guy with the bones sticking out of his body and said, "It's amazing you were able to come here at all, Kimimaru. Was it will power?"

Then the doctor turned to another patient and asked if they were okay, but he had his mouth hidden behind the folders at all times and the tone of his voice suggested he found the situation amusing. Then he adjusted his circular glasses with his middle finger and stared at Naruto.

"Well, well, well," he said pulling out a folder, "You're a new face here so you must be our Naruto."

"He likes the orange Skittles!" Yukimaru said with a smile, like if it was some sort of discovery.

"That's nice," Kabuto answered dismissively before studying Naruto's folder and chuckling. "Impressive", he said, "tell me Naruto. Do you have any dreams for the future?"

"I want to the President of the United States of America!" Naruto answered automatically.

"Well that's a lofty goal," the doctor chuckled behind the folder. Then he shrugged and said, "Dreams don't come true when you're dead."

Naruto blinked twice at that statement, mouth agape, but before he had a chance to voice his confusion, Kabuto continued jeering.

"Well Naruto, you came to visit the right doctor so you must feel very accomplished. You know…" he started saying but then waved it off with his hands. "I was going to say I'm seeing another patient with a case similar to yours, and that you'll probably be able to relate one another rather well but…" he chuckled, "giving out patient's information to strangers would be unprofessional of me." He shrugged, "Pity."

"Oh," Kabuto then said to his receptionist before heading to his office, "Pass me Naruto Uzumaki next."

Hearing his name, the teen stood up and tried to wake Jiraiya. Efforts failing, he ultimately decided to go in alone. But as he entered Dr. Kabuto's office, another patient was leaving.

"You," Naruto said, recognizing the other immediately.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Gaara answered slowly before closing his eyes. He only stayed like that for a second but for Naruto it felt like five minutes. When Gaara open his eyes again, there was a knowing look in them. "You are the same as me."

**-x-x-x-Next Morning at School (Wednesday)-x-x-x-**

The next morning people were still whispering at school, but this time instead of receiving cold and judicious stares, Naruto was getting excited and eager ones. Lots of people seemed to point and smile his way. When he reached his locker, people crowded around him. Every single one of them was like they wanted to say something but then stopped themselves and stared at the one beside them hoping the other would start the conversation.

When that wasn't happening, by inertia, they decided that to the get gossip in motion they needed to exert force on it. In high school terms, in order to get what they wanted from Naruto they to needed peer pressure someone close to Naruto into doing the job.

They started shoving and shuffling through the crowd until in a record setting twenty seconds they dragged Kiba from minding his own business on his own locker to shoving him in front of Naruto's.

"What the?" Kiba started saying but the crowd around him just made the "get on with it" and "hurry it up" motions with their hands.

"Fine fine," the Inuzuka resigned, dusting the imaginary dust off of his shirt before facing Naruto and looking at him in the eyes. Those gorgeous blue eyes…. _"Bad move!"_ Kiba quickly looked away trying to hide away his blush. He added some groaning noises to his actions so that the crowd would take it as he being frustrated.

"Look, fox-face," Kiba started, knowing all too well what the others were eager to find out, "Did you meet with Gaara yesterday?"

Naruto blinked twice before asking. "How did you know?"

The response was immediate. The crowd stared gushing out, "I knew it! I knew it! That's so cool and romantic!"

"You did?" Kiba asked in disbelieve and awe, "So the rumors were true? You and Gaara were both absent yesterday because you were… were…"

"Yeah," Naruto frowned recalling the memory, "I totally didn't expect both of us would end up in the hospital."

"Hospital!" The crowd shouted in unison. Immediately the girls were staring at Naruto with hearts on their eyes, gushing about how lucky Sakura was for having such a protective boyfriend, while the guys where all patting Naruto's back and ruffling his hair saying how cool and bad-ass he was.

The bell rang and everybody headed to their homerooms, rushing to spread the news. Naruto cheerfully said his goodbyes, and with the same bright smile, asked Kiba, "What did I do to become so wickedly cool and awesome?"

Kiba shook his head, not willing to feed Naruto's ego further. "You aren't _that_ awesome." Kiba played, making Naruto punch him as playfully in retort. "But," the brunet started again, "I guess it was pretty badass that you skipped classes yesterday just so you could settle your score with Gaara. The battle must've been intense if you two ended up in the hospital."

"Hey," he then observed the blond, "Why aren't you bandaged up or something? Wasn't the battle intense?"

"Eh…" Naruto stalled, "I was in the hospital because Jiraiya took me with him for some check up and stuff, and Gaara was there because he was doing stuff too."

"What? So no _Grease_ shit with the leather jackets?"

"What's _Grease_?"

"Ahhh," Kiba's face turned pink, "Just some random shit my sister puts on TV sometimes. Anyways, I knew you weren't that awesome. In fact, you're not awesome at all."

"Hey!" Naruto retorted, "That's not what the others think."

"Yeah well," Kiba gave it thought, "People listen to rumors more than they do to facts. Haha, I love high school."

They both then came to a stop, spotting Ino standing outside their homeroom with her eyes closed and her hand on her chest. "Breath in, and then out," she was telling herself when Naruto loudly shouted, "Ino!"

"Eep," she squeaked off guard, but upon laying eyes on the other blond, her expression turned to one of distaste as she opened the door and entered their homeroom. Naruto tried to speak to her, calling her name again, but she only looked back at him with silent rage and said in all dishonesty, "I hope you're enjoying your new popularity. I really do."

"Somebody is spiteful," Kiba commented before noticing that Naruto remained frozen solid on his spot. "Yo, fox-boy, you're going to make us late."

"_I feel sad,"_ Naruto thought, before also entering homeroom.

The class proceeded as normal but Naruto barely paid attention to any of them. People were hanging around him, and for that he guessed he should be glad. But it was not their attention he was currently craving. At last period, Gaara sat next to him and that stopped people from trying to speak with the blond. No other word was uttered except for that of the teacher and the students who participated in class. Only when the bell rang was that Naruto did hear something directed at him. By Gaara.

"You look like you're dying," was what he said, "Mulling on about the people you call _friends_ is a waste of time. The concept itself is meaningless."

"That's not true," Naruto answered barely above whisper. "Ino is not meaningless."

"…," the other stayed quiet as he watched the others slowly exit the room, reluctant to leave because of the promise of a fight. Keeping his voice low, Gaara answered. "Then think about what the word 'friend' means and what can you do for her."

Naruto stayed downcast at the suggestion. He already knew what he had to do. Kakashi told him to trust his friends, Shikamaru told him to stay low, Sakura told him to stay away from Ino, and Kiba said that rumors were stronger than fact, so if everybody thought it ill for him to be around Ino then he should stay away, even when Ino hadn't done anything bad to him. _"That's right,"_ he thought. Ino came to him before he even made himself popular. And she sought _him_ out, he never felt like he had to reach out for her. She liked to caress his scars, she fixed his clothes and gave him fashion advice, she would get upset whenever he forgot to call her and she would take a cab in the middle of the night just to knock some sense into him. She would hug him, dance with him and even defend him from people who wanted to mock him.

And she did that all on her own. On her own volition! Nobody told her to do it. Nobody told her to… "_wait!"_ he thought, _"since when do I do what other people tell me to do?"_

It was out of fear. It was _the eyes_. When he received those cold stares he remembered how it was to be isolated and despised. Like when nobody wanted him, abandoned at an orphanage. But he was stronger now. He never gave up. He made do with what he had and in time managed to get friends and recognition of his own. He never let people put him down. He made his own path.

"_I can't believe I lost sight of me."_ He realized, and with that came another realization. All he had wanted to do was fix things with Ino but instead, he allowed her to carry the burden alone. "I didn't defend her."

"What was that?" Gaara asked.

"I didn't defend her!" Naruto said aloud, and then repeated it to himself. _"She's my friend and I didn't defend her." _Now he was on the verge of crying with rage. "I didn't defend her."

"Gaara!" he shouted, placing a hand above the other's right shoulder, "thanks for listening to me rambling on, it took the weight off my shoulders."

"Excuse me?" Gaara asked, taken aback by the sudden rush of gratitude the other was delivering.

Naruto smiled. "I'm going to make things right." He assured, making his way out and leaving a very bewildered Gaara alone to his own thoughts.

"_Why?" _Gaara asked himself, _"Why is he thanking me? And what is this feeling?"_

**-x-x-x-The Yamanaka's Flower Shop (That same afternoon)-x-x-x-**

Ino was bored out of her mind. She'd been sitting behind the counter for almost an hour and still no customers. She hadn't sold a single flower today. "I guess nobody goes on dates on a Wednesday," she muttered. She had already read all the magazines she had, and her laptop was getting fixed because it went dead on her. And her father had a policy of no cell phones while working. So basically, she had nothing to do but wish, with the power of her mind, for the bells to chime.

And chime they did.

"Welcome to the Yamanaka's Flower Shop! Please feel free to… Whiskers?" She muttered, interrupting her ritual greeting.

"Hehe," Naruto scratched the bridge under his nose, "Hi Ino."

As a response, she folded her arms imposingly and narrowed her eyes before coldly saying, "Hi." She wanted to know why he was here. She wanted to know why today? She wanted to know how he dared show his face around her. She wanted to know. But she rather let him sweat.

And sweat he did.

"Ah um," he tried to speak. Finding Ino had been his priority, and on impulse his feet were determined to find her. But did he really think about what he was going to do once he found her? Not really. But he needed to say something.

"I'm sorry."

She raised an eyebrow and then asked, "For what?" He took a deep breath and told her everything that went through his mind from his talk with Gaara. When he was finished, he grabbed her hands and said, "I miss you having you around."

Ino was dumbfounded. First, she had no idea a guy was able to have so many emotions. Second, this guy had opened up to her and basically thought that she was great and unselfish. And third, his hands were really warm, and a part of her feared that after she answered, he would let go of her hands. But a Yamanaka did answer. Just not the one Naruto was expecting.

"Who the hell are you and why are you touching my daughter!" Inoichi yelled, pulling Naruto by the arm, away from his one and only daughter. "You got balls to try and pull this off with her father around".

"Daddy, let go of him!" Ino shouted.

"But, baby girl,"

"Daddy!"

Naruto watched as Ino exchange shouts with this middle-age man, who was tall and strong, and his hair was as long but darker than Ino's.

"Fine," Inoichi said, letting go of boy's arm before asking, "So what are you here for? Asking my daughter out on a date?"

"Yes he was," Ino answered for Naruto, giggling. She would call it pay back and it was sort of cute to watch a boy struggle. "Naruto is a nice guy. So he wanted to meet you before he asked me out."

Naruto stared at her, mildly terrified by the glare he was receiving from her father. _"Why did she say that? I wasn't asking her out."_ But now her father was eyeing him with scrutiny.

"_He looks like a healthy kid, strong, maybe he's a jock, probably dumb"_ Inoichi thought before asking a set of questions. "How old are you? How did you get those scars on your face? Do you drink or smoke? To what school do you go to? What are your intentions with my daughter? And at what time do you plan to bring her back home? You can drive, right?"

"Uh… I'm sixteen, I don't know how I got my scars, I think I was born with them. I'll never drink or smoke, my only vice is to be great because I want to be the President. I go to Konoha High, Ino is amazing and I vow to protect her, I can drive and…" he thought about what hour he would bring Ino back if he went on a date with her. Ino was popular, so she probably liked late hours. "I'll bring her back at twelve?" he tried.

"Twelve!" Inoichi shouted, astonished, "What the fuck are you planning to do to my daughter on a school night?"

"I mean eight!"

"Eight?" Ino shouted, offended, "What kind of date ends at eight?"

"I mean, ten, ten!"

The Yamanakas stared at each other and nodded in agreement. "Ten is good for starters." Ino said. Her father consented and decided to relieve Ino from her work but not before giving Naruto one final warning. "If my daughter ends up on_** MTV's Sixteen and Pregnant**_ I will neuter you and use it as fertilizer for my plants"

**-x-x-x-Konoha High (Thursday Morning)-x-x-x-**

Naruto showed up happy and everyone noticed. He greeted Sakura like he always did, and when Ino arrived he kissed her on the cheek and said "hello". This shocked everyone, even Ino who was caught off guard by how naturally Naruto kissed her. But becoming aware of the attention she was receiving, she laughed it off and answered aloud, "Now don't get cocky, whiskers, you might have met daddy but he hasn't approved of you yet." This left the people whispering and Naruto took the opportunity to make an announcement.

"Sakura and I are not dating. Never were. She doesn't want to. Gaara is not all that creepy. He knows how to listen to people's problem. Don't judge a book by its cover. And Ino is great. She helps me out a lot and looks out for me. She's amazing! So stop spreading rumors about them or you'll have to face me. I'll defend those important to me!"

And when he finished speaking, he smiled. His friends congratulated him, and the rest of his peers started gossiping with one another.

When first period was over, Gaara went to grab his lab coat since Mr. Orochimaru had said to bring it today. There he was stopped by someone he had not expected to meet with again.

"Yosh!" he said, towering three inches over Gaara. "I happen to know you and Naruto are lab partners. Correct?"

The red head stared blankly at this enigma of a person. So loud, so enthusiastic and so daring this dark haired person was. "You are Rock Lee" Gaara observed.

"Impressive!" Lee responded. "Why are you making a face full with confusion? It catches me completely by surprise."

"Haven't you already face humiliation twice by me. Why do you not flee? Are you not scared of what I might do to you next?"

"That is quite an unfriendly proposition you are making. Does my presence bother you?"

"You and Uzumaki Naruto," Gaara said, touching his forehead like if he was having a headache, "I have hurt you both so why do you still try to speak to me. Don't you know that I'm not normal?"

"I do not know what normal is!" Lee exclaimed with passion, remembering the words of his idol. "We are weird in our own way! Gai-sensei told me that to fit in all you need is to find some as normal as you, and if not, find a bunch!" Lee then placed his right hand over where his heart should be and declared. "Gai-sensei is so smart. I live by these words everyday!"

"And before I forget!" Lee then shouted, handing Gaara a white lab coat, "Please return this to Naruto on my behalf. I cannot afford to be late for my own class!"

**-x-x-x-Gaara's House (Thursday Night)-x-x-x-**

It was always like this. The three siblings would be seating around the dinner table, their father nowhere in sight, and the room awfully silent.

Still, it never stopped Temari from trying to communicate with her brothers. So she asked, "Any new happened today?" To both her and Kankuro's surprise, Gaara answered "yes".

Expectantly, Kankuro asked the question that was both in his and Temari's mind. "Did you make any friends today?"

Gaara closed his eyes and thought about what he learned. He had seen Naruto suffer because of his friends, but he has also seen how happy he was because of them. Maybe even ill companionship was preferable to loneliness. However, Gaara didn't believe similar life experiences were reserved for him. But then he remembered his meeting with Lee. Nobody was normal. That was something Gaara had never considered. But something was quite evident. Naruto Uzumaki and Rock Lee were weirder than the rest.

"Connections with other people… up until now, for me that was nothing but hatred and the intent to kill. And now, even I understand something. Suffering and sadness and joy… they can all be shared with someone else. Naruto Uzumaki… Rock Lee… from fighting and interacting with them, this is what I feel they taught me. They know suffering, as I do, and so they taught me I could change the way I live". Gaara answered. "Tomorrow, I will make two friends".

Temari and Kankuro stared at each other, wondering if it was natural for them to be feeling so moved by Gaara's progress. They were his siblings, not his parents. And yet, they wanted to hug him.

**-x-x-x-After Last Period (Friday Afternoon)-x-x-x-**

Making his way to his locker, Sakura grabbed on to his right arm and giggled. "Um, Sakura?" Naruto said, about to blush.

"You know Naruto, I thought about it and you impressed me yesterday." She said still giggling, "True, you are known for interrupting class at random times to shout and announce random goals but yesterday you did something different and I don't think you even know what it was."

"Eh…"

Sakura giggled again, "Normally when you shout I have to hide my face in embarrassment. With you always shouting about become president, beating a certain someone on something that's completely lame or just general boasting. But yesterday you defended people. This time, when you went against the crowd you did it to prove how great other people were. And that's something I've never heard you do before." She smiled, "I think you're maturing."

"Gee Sakura, thanks!" Naruto smiled, not really knowing what other way to react to Sakura's compliments. He reacted the same way when Gaara told him this morning that he wanted to be friends. Which caught him off guard but thankfully Rock Lee jumped in and proclaimed them "The three Musketeers!" Only to be immediately called "The Three Stooges" by Neji.

"Hold it there, handsome!" Ino said latching on to Naruto's other arm. "Hey whiskers! Hola Forehead!"

"Pig," Sakura returned.

"Anyways," Ino said smugly, "Now that we're on good terms we need to catch up on stuff," she said suggestively, burying Naruto's arm between her breasts.

That oh so clever banshee.

"_Let's see if Sakura can top this,"_ Ino grinned.

"_That bitch! I knew I should've worn that push-up bra today!" _Sakura mentally screamed. But this fairy tale was far from being over. "Can it, Ino." Sakura said, "Naruto and I were going at my place to study together." She stopped to smile and then said, "Right Naruto?

"_Two-face bitch!"_ Ino mentally roared, knowing Naruto was practically incapable of saying no to Sakura. "_She is so conniving!"_

"Eh?" Naruto said, and both girls almost tripped when he suddenly stopped walking. They went to say, "What the heck?" but noticed Naruto eyes' were focused ahead of him. They turned and saw… her.

Hinata Hyuuga was standing on the tip of her toes trying to shove a small envelop into Naruto's locker. The timid girl quickly noticed Naruto and started fidgeting with the letter. "Ah um, Na-Naruto!" she said, walking slowly and awkwardly towards the blond, "I-I was, I mean I was try-trying to-to… here!" she said bowing her heard and with both her hands extending the envelope towards the male blond.

He grabbed it.

"Plea-Please read and and and," she bowed her head again and said, "Please call me," before running off.

Naruto kept staring at the direction Hinata had run off to. Ino and Sakura, kept staring at the lily colored envelop, with Naruto's name beautifully spelled and *sniff sniff* it was perfume scented.

It could only be one thing.

A love letter…

… and Hinata had given it to Naruto.

**-x-x-x-( End of Chapter Sixteen: "Stone Heart & Hand Grenade" )-x-x-x-**

**A/N:** Okay so I played the Hinata card *dodges bullet* What? NaruIno was starting to become real so plot-wise it was time for the Hyuuga Camp to retaliate. That aside, I hope everybody perceived the meaning of this chapter, which was friendship. Oh ho ho ho, next chapter will be epic. I'm going to put Hinata through the most traumatic experience of her life. She'll cry, she'll laugh, and she'll go through both anxiety and panic attacks. She won't have it easy, love never is. The Mini Shippuden Arc comes to an end with the chapter entitled, "Confession". Shit is about to get real.

Next update will take a while. There are some tests I have to prepare for first. Med School is so abusive of our time, but it's worth it.

As always, thank you for showing me your support with this story. I think I can complete this story in maybe five more chapters. Thanks for the reviews. I enjoy reading them.


	17. Confession

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own, nor wish to ever own NARUTO or its characters. Though I wish I could've been part of the creative process so that I could tell Kishimoto how to not troll certain characters into one-dimensional personas._

**A/N: **_Thank you kindly for the reviews. I know I've been absent for a long time and have broken many deadlines. For that, I apologize. I assure you guys that it was never my intention to leave you hanging and I feel horrible for it. I'm in my third year of medicine but I have now taken a one month leave of absence so that I can retake my life and reconnect with everything I left behind. True, I doubt I'll be able to do it all in one month but lucky, lucky, this chapter was one of the top priorities of my to-do-list. Again, I apologize for the three years wait. I really want to be a doctor._

**Thank you** _**S****odapops**_ for beta-ing the chapter.

**Disclaimer 2: **_There is a scene in this chapter inspired by "Ao Haru Ride". Congrats if you find it. Now without further ado, the Hinata Chapter!_

_**-x-x-x-(Its absence diminishes mediocre passions but increases great ones, just like the wind extinguishes candle lights but fans fires)-x-x-x-**_

_It had started by voicing out an honest observation._

"_I um… I like your necklace best because it matches the color of your eyes, Na-Naruto-kun"_

_This was followed by a warm and kind gesture._

"_Really? I've never really taken it off since I've gotten it, really. Hey, wanna try it on, Hinata?"_

_However, it has been said that fortune and misfortune are equally balanced on the scale of luck._

"_Shino, help me out here! Hinata is going to kill herself!"_

_It is true that even in misery we must never lose our ray of hope; but it is also true that every light does cast a shadow._

"_Kiba… it appears I hit a dead end. I don't know how to solve this one without either party suffering for it."_

_If truer words were ever spoken, it would express that the way to hell has always been paved with good intentions._

_**-x-x-x- Chapter Seventeen: "Confession (One laughter away from a tear)" -x-x-x-x-x-x-One-x-x-x-x-x-Laughter-x-x-x-x-x-Away-x-x-x-x**_

"She was a quiet girl… once. Wouldn't hurt a fly! But her family always pressured her into a mold she wasn't meant to fit. I… I worried about her, and even voiced my concerns, for you see, she's my friend. Well, she _was_ my friend. Yet no matter what people told her, she would always reply with a timid smile and thank me for worrying, but that she was above it. At the time I had… admired that about her. I had mistaking it with quiet confidence."

"Believe it, she would reply back. Using that phrase I always used when trying to convince others of things I was unsure of myself. I guess that should've been my first hint. But back then I didn't connect the dots. I don't know why I didn't but… but then one day she… she… she snapped."

A shiver went down Naruto's spine. People may call him dense but he was smart to know he didn't like the direction this movie was taking. The background music had suddenly stopped and that could only mean one thing when watching horror movies. And it usually involved gore.

"_Any minute now," _the frightened boy thought as he pressed back against his chair, the anticipation doing cruel things to his stomach.

He needed more popcorn.

He didn't want to be scared and he had heard that some people ate away their feelings as a healing process. Plus, if he went to buy it he wouldn't have to be here.

Right?

Smart!

"I think I saw something dark hide behind that scary street corner I would normally never walk into" The woman in the film stated to her other friend. "Stay here while I go deep in there and check it alone."

"_Popcorn, think popcorn!"_ the boy cowered, wanting to reaching for the bag the girl beside him held, his hand only stopping when he noticed how depressingly small said bag was.

"Ne, Hinata?" Naruto called, scratching the bridge under his nose as he spoke, "Are you sure that's all you want to eat?" If he was getting another bag for himself he might as well get one for Hinata. Jiraiya, for reasons that were probably misguided, had given him an extra twenty when the boy told him a girl had asked him out.

Hinata stared wide eyed before quickly hiding her face away behind her bangs. "That's o-okay," she replied timidly, "I'm… um, I'm trying to diet."

"_Diet?"_ he thought with distaste, recalling how obsessed Sakura and Ino were with that particular word. _"Why are girls always dieting?" _ He knew Ino told him she did it because she liked to being told she looked good. And she did look good he asserted to himself, completely disconnected to the climatic butcher scene occurring on the silver screen. _"Heheh, I should say something nice."_ And with that in mind he pronounced the following set of words to the girl beside him.

"It's great you want to diet!"

As soon as those words left his mouth the back of his chair recoiled due to a violent kick that shook him out and onto the hard sticky floor.

"What the?!" he wanted to yell at Kiba, who was sitting right behind him, but Shino intercepted the shouting with a swift "shhh" to remind the sputtering blond they were still in a theatre room and people were staring.

Naruto leered before grumpily sitting back on his chair; completely missing the reason Kiba kicked him. Another thing he didn't comprehend was why Kiba and Shino were sitting behind them instead of next to. Plus up until the moment Kiba kicked him, the two had been content with ignoring the two upfront.

In the letter Hinata had given him the other day, she asked if he wanted to go to the movies with them. He didn't grasp why she wrote it instead of just asking it out loud plainly but she did have a tendency to stutter. _"Maybe she has an undiagnosed speaking problem?"_ He figured. But still, he quickly accepted to go with the three. _"I mean, Kiba was gonna be there so why not?"_

But then Kiba and Shino chose not to interact with them?

"_Could it be?"_ He thought as the openly gaped at Hinata, who started sinking into her seat because of his intense stare.

"Na-Naruto-kun?"

"Um," he glanced back at Kiba, who quickly looked away, "Are… we… here because… um, Shino and Kiba are on a date?"

"Why I oughta!" Kiba practically barked as he hurled his cheese and nachos towards the blond. "Of all the possible things you could come up with!"

"Shh," Shino shushed again, "We already knew Naruto could be dense sometimes, although…" he never suspected anyone could be _this_ dense. It was as clear as the moon and the sun that the only reason Kiba and Shino were here was because Hinata was too scared to ask Naruto on a date alone.

**-x-x-x- Meanwhile… in the same movie showing -x-x-x-**

"Tsk," Neji fumed as he observed the vile song and dance displayed exactly nine rows ahead of his very eyes. "Simply outrageous." He then scoffed to the girl next to him. "Can you believe how rude those idiots are, Tenten? Causing so much commotion in the cinema!"

He shook his flawless head once, twice and even thrice. Forever appalled by the barbarians that attended the same educational system as him. "Have those idiots no proper etiquette?"

"Rude? Proper etiquette?" Tenten bellowed, "You mean like the type of guys who invite a girl out on a movie night just to ignore her because he rather just stalk his cousin? Like a creep!"

"What was that?" Neji said softly, pushing his luscious hair behind fine ears, "I'm sorry," he apologized, "I was straining my ears to overhear what those idiots where going on about. Did you say something?"

"…no," she answered, munching loudly on her popcorn.

She refused to believe it all summed up to this. Hours before she had been enjoying her typical weekend night, polishing her kitchen utensils, when all the sudden she received a random call from Neji demanding her to go to the movies with him as soon as possible. It struck her as odd because the Hyuuga was never one to demand things last minute. He usually had it all planned and predetermined.

So she called Lee about it. From him she found out that Neji had made no mention of this to Lee. Finding it _extremely _weird she rang Neji's phone and he told her he didn't call Lee because he wanted to be inconspicuous about it. Then he quickly told her at what hour he would come to pick her up before hanging up.

She got excited.

Could anybody blame her?

She had actually gotten excited about the entire ordeal. She had actually thought he was asking her out on their first date. She even bought a Cosmopolitan magazine to make the entire process of choosing what to wear and say legit. And for what? For what? To help Neji _chaperon_ the same cousin he shared a household with?

Incospicously?

"…"

She was pissed.

If she had her sneakers on she could make a run for it. But no, Cosmopolitan told her to wear heels.

She was beyond pissed.

"Tenten," the embodiment of her frustrations then said, leaning forward so that he could get a better view of the sophomores, "Would you be so kind as to be quiet when you chew your food? You're being discourteous."

"Discourteous?!" She seethed through gritted teeth, "I'm the one being discourteous? Well excuse me for being such a nuisance. Maybe I should do us both a favor and leave!"

Forget the heels, she'll go barefoot.

"Wait!" he said in an attempt to halt the girl that was stomping her way out, "Tenten! What is this about? Hey! Don't keep walking when I'm talking to you! Hey! Tenten! I said wait! Tenten!"

Nine rows ahead Kiba turned his head around and asked Shino, "Was that Neji just there?"

"You just noticed?" Shino asked, although it sounded more like a statement. He then pushed his 3-D glasses back and gave a cocky smile. "Don't worry, it seems his plan backfired."

Kiba scrunched up his nose in confusion, deterrent to ask any more questions for the risk of sounding stupid. However he couldn't keep the comments to himself when he noticed Shino unveil his previously hidden left hand to reveal… "A flower?"

"This," Shino said referring to the flower, "is a purple iris."

"Okay… thank you for the herbology lesson?" Kiba answered, still not knowing what the other was on about.

The one with the flower then unclenched his right hand to reveal a capsule with a bug inside of it. Kiba recognized it as the bikochu. If he remembered right it was a beetle that committed to memory the first scent it encountered after its metamorphosis. Only to spent the rest of its life tracking the source of that same smell.

Shino uncapped the capsule with the hand holding the purple iris before interchanging the positions so that the flower was now inside the capsule and the bug free from its isolation. Kiba watched in fascination as the beetle then flew four rows behind them to spring the screams of two girls he then saw scramble out of the theater room, the bug still tailing them.

He couldn't help but to notice the detective hats those two girls were wearing, the giant overcoats and the glaringly obvious pink hair one of the two girls sported.

"What that Sakura and Ino just now?" Kiba asked, but the only response he received was a sudden glimmer in Shino's eyewear.

"_Counter measure?" _Kiba pondered. He knew Ino liked flowers and the color purple. He knew she disliked bugs and he was also aware of the specifics of the Bikochu. So that would mean… Shino had suspected Ino and Sakura would tail Naruto on his date?

He stared at Shino again, this time with certain awe. "Shino, you are too much."

**-x-x-x- (At the mall, after the movie ended) -x-x-x-**

"Man, I don't get this." Naruto whined after taking in his surroundings. Everything looked shiny, fragile and expensive. "Only married people come here. So why are we here?"

He shouldn't be allowed in places like this.

Kiba sighed at the boy's ignorance. He himself didn't want to be here either but his mom bullied him to. Of course, being the alpha male he swore he was, he wasn't about to admit that to his other male friends. So running a hand through his brown hair to fake an annoyed front, he said, "Are you that dumb, Naruto?" He said, slowing down his speech as if the blond actually had an impaired IQ, "This is a jewelry shop. So it's obvious we are here to buy the stuff."

Naruto gave a leveled glare. He could tell when somebody was treating him like an idiot. So he answered back just as slowly and through gritted teeth. "But that's what I don't get. Why are we even _buying_ the stuff?"

Kiba was about to answer "Because every kiss begins with K." What? He'd seen the overplayed commercials. But Shino beat him to it with his unsolicited input.

"Because Kiba's mom made him."

"Gah!" Kiba wailed at Shino while Naruto burst out laughing, calling the brunet a mommy's boy. "Whatever!" Kiba huffed trying to sound macho, "You three stay here while I take care of business."

One gone, three left. Hinata, staring at the floor, Naruto, looking like if he wanted a mosquito to fly by just so he could distract himself, and Shino, who just noticed this was actually the perfect opportunity to engage in a one on one conversation with Naruto.

Shino even felt a little pressured by anticipation. Maybe today will be the day when he actually manages to sustain a conversation without the other overlooking him for someone else. Kiba was gone and Hinata barely spoke. Shino's longest conversation with Naruto had been a mere minute and seven seconds. And fifty-nine of those seconds were spent in Naruto trying to remember if he had met Shino before.

"Naruto," Shino said, inner-self dancing when the other boy actually made eye contact, "I was wondering if…"

"Um," Hinata mumbled for the first time since the movie had ended. "D-Don't you like jewelry, Na-Naruto-kun?"

"No," he answered flatly, "why?"

"B-But," she started to get flustered, "But you have your necklace and…"

"Oh, this old thing?" Naruto said, tugging the necklace out from underneath his shirt. Hinata nodded quietly as she struggled to find her words.

And then she struggled a little more.

"Um…"

Shino left to find Kiba.

"I… uh," Hinata continued, "I uh was wondering if Naruto-kun knew where I, where I could buy a necklace like that."

"Oh!" Naruto reciprocated in excitement, "You like it, right? Am I right?"

"I…" she blushed, Naruto was sounding giddy and it was because of her. This gave her the confidence to confess. "I like it best because it matches the color of your… your, your eyes." By the time she finished that sentence her face was crimson and her mind was spinning. She, in her own way, had just admitted her endearment for him. But of course, the underlying meaning of such an indirect way of speaking was completely missed by Naruto's radar.

"Really? I've never really taken it off since I've gotten it. Heh heh, it's probably the most expensive thing I got to my name". He admitted, taking some time to really observe his necklace. Something he hasn't done for the longest time. Then an idea popped into his mind. "Ne, Hinata! Wanna try it on?"

"I ah, I ah…" she started but Naruto was already accessorizing her.

"See?" he winked at her, "looks good on you,"

A simple comment and a sweet gesture had been delivered. The feeling it evoked on the Hyuuga made her wish she could repeat this moment to make sure she didn't imagine it. But time does not rewind, and that's why, if she could, she would forever freeze this moment for it to never end.

"_Stop,"_ she wished with her heart. _"Time, please, just stop."_

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Ne, Hinata?" Naruto waved his hand in front of her. "Hinata?"

"_Is she spacing out again?"_ he pondered, thinking she was really weird. Nice, but weird. Maybe she was on some sort of medication? He snapped his fingers at her for good measure, but when he got no response he decided to go find Kiba and Shino. Maybe they knew why she spaces out so much.

"_I'm… wearing… Naruto-kun's… necklace,"_

Yep, she was on a land of swirling hearts and rainbows.

A girl in love always emitted a certain radiance… a certain glow others can't help but notice. One woman specifically quickly spotted the girl with the far-off stare, standing alone, with an unique jewel hanging around her neck.

Unattended

"That's a pretty necklace you got there," a young lady said, approaching the Hyuuga and pinching her behind to gain her attention. "Family heirloom?" she asked enticingly.

"N-No… um," Hinata responded flustered. She took a peek at the woman's nametag.

_**-Kurotsuchi-**_

"Oh," the woman laughed as she playfully elbowed the blushing girl, "It is from a boyfriend then?"

The way Hinata kept blushing and stuttering picked the woman's interest even further. "You must really like him," she observed, "And he must like you too to give you such a…oh my gosh!" She then said, staring pointedly at it. "Here," she directed, handing Hinata another necklace, "Try this silver one on while I go polish that one."

"Um but,"

"Nah ah," the woman touted, "What would your boyfriend think if he found out you let his gift get so dirty." And with that, the woman took Naruto's necklace and pointed Hinata to a mirror, saying she'll return in a couple of minutes.

So following orders like a good girl, Hinata approached the mirror and tried the necklace on but… "It's doesn't feel like silver," she commented. Feeling it and weighting it with her hands.

"Um," she said, approaching the counter where another woman was working at the cash register. "Um… hello?" she called and timidly explained that the necklace given to her felt odd. To this the employer gave her a weird look and claimed the necklace was not one of theirs.

That's when Hinata started to feel an odd but familiar sensation, her pulse suddenly hastening.

Timidly, the Hyuuga explained that an employee called Kurotsuchi had given it to her to try it out, to which the women at the cash register answered with a "bless you," believing Hinata had sneezed.

Now Hinata recognized the familiar sensation as the earlier symptoms of panic, the stress evident in her voice as she repeated the name of the employee. But as she pronounced it she realized nobody in America would be named like that. She also noticed for the first time that all of the employees in the shop were blonds, while the women who had taken Naruto's necklace had short black hair.

"_Naruto's necklace!"_

Now she was really panicking, but as she tried to ask about it, her mouth would move but the words wouldn't come out. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned around to see Shino, Kiba and Naruto. With their eyes she could tell they were asking her if something was wrong. But for some reason her ears had stop working. Were they speaking? She couldn't hear.

She wanted to speak but found herself muted. She stared at the employees but they were looking at her owlishly. She focused back on her friends but they couldn't understand her. She wanted to point at her neck where the necklace should be but she didn't want Naruto to find out she lost it. She wanted someone, anyone, to speak in her place. She wanted the woman called Kurotsuchi, if that was really her name, to come out laughing, saying it was all a prank. She wanted her body to stop sweating. She wished she wasn't hyperventilating like she knew she was. Why was it becoming so hard to breathe? Why were the walls closing in on her? Why didn't people stop staring?

She wanted out.

She needed out.

And before she knew it she had fainted. Tears still pouring out as she lay lifeless on Shino's arms, who had moved to catch her before she stroke the polished marble floor.

**-x-x-x- (Sunday - The Next Late Morning) -x-x-x-**

One foldable outdoor table, with only two chairs set on either side of it. The guest chairs? Hidden and locked away. The room? Illuminated by a single lamp hanging at the ceiling, illuminating only one side of the table

Jiraiya set the KFC chicken, the coke, and his latest unreleased novel on the center. It was about to be noon and since the adolescent he had in custody skipped breakfast, this was Jiraiya's perfect opportunity to interrogate a surely weakened teenager. And there were two subjects he needed to thread.

"Oi Naruto," he sing-sang, settling on the dark side of the table, "I brought ya some KFC"

Immediately a messy looking blond appeared before him, trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes as he made his way to the only available chair. The boy off-mindedly asked if the room had always been this bright before settling in and reaching out for the biggest piece of chicken he could find.

"Morning Brat," the older of the two greeted with a satisfied smile on his face. He waited for the other to grunt some form of reply before jumping to the first subject he needed to address. "Say Naruto," he started, "I noticed you have spent three days already without touching the book I gave you so…," he leaned his way into the table, "does this mean you finished reading it?"

Jiraiya asked this; enthusiastic about a chance to discuss the contents of his latest book with a young adolescent mind, but Naruto just answered with a "nah" and continued eating.

The man's smile fell into a frown.

"So you haven't read the book?"

He was no longer amused. Sure, he knew giving a high-schooler a book was not exactly an appreciated gift but Jiraiya was _**The**_ Jiraiya. Surely Naruto would be excited about reading anything written by such an excellent author who just happened to also be his caregiver and life consultant.

"So… Naruto, are you going to read it anytime soon?" he egged, but all he got back was a "maybe".

"_Insolent little brat!"_

That wouldn't do. Jiraiya had to take a flight to New York the next week to present his book. He wanted to discuss it with someone at least once. So if approaching the issue as a role model wasn't going to work he would just have to approach it like any _understanding_ parent would.

And parents weren't selfish. They always placed the needs of their children first. Strategically

"So Naruto," Jiraiya grinned, resting an elbow on the table so that he could nest his head on his hand, giving the other a sideway glance. "How is school going for you?"

"Good, I guess…?"

"Good?" Jiraiya pretended to care but colored the canvas of his face with an indecipherable gesture, asking with an inserted twinge of disappointment, "Just good, eh?"

"Eh…" Naruto finally looked up from his meal and frowned. The boy could tell when someone was condescending towards him. And it always annoyed him. "Well," he continued trying to impress the other, "the teachers say I'm picking up my grades and stuff."

"Good, good," Jiraiya commented nonchalantly. "So you're keeping up with your studies?"

"Yeah… and my friends are helping me out too, so…"

"Wait, wait, wait…" The man said, imploring an immediate pause. He needed time to analyze any possible weak spots on the boy's previous statement. "Hmm," the man pondered further. _"I think I got three cards to play here"._

_**1**__**st**__** Card? The hook: **_"You got friends helping you?"

"Yeah,"

_**2**__**nd**__** Card? The line: **_"Hmm… and are you doing anything to help them back?"

"Eh…"

_**3**__**rd**__** Card? The sinker: **_"It's the basics of things, didn't you read the book?"

Naruto gave an abashed expression and Jiraiya knew he had successfully reeled the kid in. "Gaki, you don't know where to start, do you? And you want to be president like that?"

"Eh, what does that have to do with anything?" the boy retorted, a red hue on his face. Whether it was from anger or embarrassment was currently inconsequential.

"It has everything to do with it!" Jiraiya shouted back, a little too pleased with himself. Then he retreated back into his chair and gave Naruto a one-over before sighing loudly. "Okay, Naruto. Here is what we're going to do. Do you have any test coming up?"

That was always an important question to ask.

"Um… no?"

"Good," No distractions, "then you are not allowed to do anything else until you read and finish that book. It'll tell you the basics you need to develop a strong will and about the importance of finding an answer as a group. You're mistreating your friends who could become your potential voters one day. So for the sake of your relationship with the world, don't interact with them any further until you finish reading this book."

"But-"

Jiraiya gave him a hard stare.

"… okay, okay, I'll read the book." The boy grumbled, before fixing himself with another chicken breast.

"Good," Jiraiya smiled to himself. Sure, he fed a lot of bull but he got what he wanted in the end. Or at least he thought he did, until he noticed something else the blond was not doing. "Hey gaki, why aren't you wearing your necklace?"

"Eh?" Naruto said patting his chest. His necklace wasn't there. He checked the bathroom, the closet, under his bed and in the hamper. "Um… I dunno…?"

"What?!" Jiraiya went berserk and started ranting about the historical importance of the necklace. Again, he added a lot of bull to the history of it but somewhere in his rant he said something about a girl and that triggered it for Naruto.

"Now I remember!" Naruto said proudly, "I gave it to Hinata."

"You dare gave it away to a…" Jiraiya stopped mid-sentence, and his face turned to a different kind of red, "you gave it to a girl?" he said wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "What was her name again?"

"Hinata Hyuuga," Naruto answered wearily, "why are your eyebrows wiggling?"

"A Hyuuga?" Jiraiya gasped in excitement, "Yes! The apple doesn't fall that far from the tree! Such a trophy. Naruto you got good taste, good taste indeed so…" he smiled. This brought him to the second subject he wanted to discuss with the boy in his custody.

The date!

He couldn't stop himself from giggling like a pervert. He was so proud of his young charge. Going out at night with girls and even giving them jewelry like a pimp. "So…" the man continued, mirth in his eyes as he rounded the table, "if you went as far as to give her your necklace…" he gave the boy a one-arm hug, "that means you done _**it**_, right?"

"…eh…" the boy droned, blinking twice before asking what did the man meant by "it".

"You know," Jiraiya grinned perversely, "sex"

"No, no way! It's not like that!"

"What?! You gave her your expensive necklace and she couldn't even offer _the goods_ to you?!"

"I'm telling you it's not like that!"

"I don't want to hear it! I'll give you some advice so heed my words for I am a sage!" Jiraiya commanded, tears bursting in his eyes because of how wronged he felt by his boy. "I didn't raise you to be a pussy!" he bellowed, "Next time you see her you take your necklace back! Women who don't give it up are not permitted in my dynasty!"

"But!"

"No more words! Words are for books! Which you damn need to read! But from now on all I want from you is action! And I better not see your face again without that necklace unless you tell me that you finally lost your V-Card, you hear me?!"

"Fine!" Naruto said, swallowing his dinner in one gulp and locking himself in his room. "Perverted old man! Besides, it's not like if I gave it to Hinata. I just forgot to take it back. On Monday I'll ask for my necklace back and problem solved."

Meanwhile, Jiraiya was giving a silent prayer to the departed Minato. "Forgive me Minato for being too harsh on your son tonight. It's just that when I look at him I see another chance for me to become a great father figure. Don't get me wrong, you turned out great but… I've never seen a man so whipped by his woman as you were. That's not going to happen with our Naruto, though. I'll make sure he's the one who wears the pants in his marriage."

That night, for some inexplicable reason, Jiraiya had a nightmare about a giant bloody tomato monster trying to butcher him.

**-x-x-x- (Monday Morning with Neji) -x-x-x-**

She was hiding something. And she was clearly panicking about what she was hiding. It was obvious, painfully so. He noticed it first when she arrived two days ago, quickly greeting everyone before locking herself in her room. He noticed it when she cried that night, thinking nobody would hear her because they were asleep.

Neji was not asleep.

He was studying.

He heard every single sob. And it interfered with his studies greatly.

He became suspicious of the severity of her secret on Sunday, when she behaved even more reclusive than what would be considered normal standards for her. This made him lose an hour of productivity that day also, because he immersed himself on the possible reasons while brushing his hair.

"_On the bright side, the fact I felt no twinge of pain during that hour is a podium that showcases how tangle free my hair is."_

He noticed it again when she had breakfast this morning, in the bags under her eyes which revealed a restless guilt-full night. He had to scold her for looking improper and even demanded Hanabi to apply some sort of make-up to hide those eye bags.

Neji was obligated to serve the eldest daughter, Hinata. The younger daughter be damned, he owed her no favors.

And he specifically noticed it in the way she was walking to school this morning, with her face down, and always behind him. She was walking on autopilot, her eyes unfocused to the outside world, dwelling on her inner thoughts.

Something had happened that Saturday night. On Sunday he had heard her speak to Shino and Kiba on the phone numerous times. And today she looked defeated.

So if she was on speaking terms with her two friends then it could only mean the problem was with the third one. That number one most unpredictable knuckleheaded student of Konoha High,

Uzumaki…

Neji could see it clearly. Hinata must be troubled by a real life romance. She has been from the day she laid eyes on those American blue eyes and blond hair.

"_A truly disgusting ploy,"_ Neji thought bitterly. For the life of him he couldn't comprehend how gullible Hinata could be. Chasing an American dream? Could she not see it was all a heist?

Originally romantic love did not exist in Japan. They only had arranged marriages and sex. Hinata's deluded idea of love was something she obviously adopted from their overseas stay. Could she not see that such sentiments were imparted on her to fuel the economy and expand capitalism?

It's no wonder she wasn't favored by her father. She was an insult to everything the traditional Hyuuga family stood for! A Hyuuga did not allow such emotions to dance them like a puppet. A Hyuuga took control of the system and made it work for them.

And exactly what was Naruto anyways? He's an heir to nothing! He wasn't even Japanese! What fruit could possibly sprout from a union with Naruto's nameless family? Did she like him because he dreamt to be the next idiot to become president? Was he her escape then? To live in the White House, in the land of the free, so she could escape her heritage and her family responsibilities. Were these the reasons why she was so set on Naruto?

"Pah," the Japanese boy let out. Dwelling on the outcomes of Hinata's actions never did him any good. That love, that hope and that admiration she had for the American boy was nothing more than a denial of her reality.

He himself did not really dislike Naruto, per se. The young boy was somewhat amusing and his determination was indeed a positive quality. Admirable, even. That, however, never stopped the blond from becoming a recurrent issue. Again, it was not Naruto who Neji disliked. It was what the blond represented for Hinata that he actually hated. Could it be…?

"Hinata-sama!" Neji said, placing his hands on the shoulders of the startled girl, "Last Saturday, did you sleep with Naruto?"

"Wha-, no, I… I… why would you, I…"

"Enough," Neji responded dismissively holding a hand up to halt her sputter. "It's clear that you haven't"

He doubted she had anyways. No matter how much of a failure she was, she would never stain the Hyuuga name like that. The last thing the family needed was to be featured on the MTV Show '_**Teen Mom**_'. Still, he had to ask just to be sure.

But if it wasn't that…

"Then why are you mopping around?" he asked demandingly, "This has been going around for more than a day!" He stated, narrowing his inquisitive eyes at her, the venom in his words unchecked. "This is about Naruto, isn't it?"

Her jaw slackened, her eyes began to water and her body began to shake before the interrogation became interrupted by a third party.

"Ne, Hinata!"

"_Speak of the devil and he shall appear"_ mused Neji as the probable cause of the problem sped from Konoha's gates to greet the Hyuugas. What happened next only confirmed his suspicion.

"I'm sorry!" replied the girl as she made a mad dash to the insides of the gates, leaving a startled blond dumbfounded, and a long haired brunet un-amused.

"Eh…," Naruto let out, not sure of what just transpired. "Eh…" he continued to drawl until he felt a chill on his neck. He turned around and saw Neji evaluating him with his pale eyes. "Eh… did I do something wrong?"

"That's exactly what I'd like to know!" Neji answered, seemingly displeased by the cluelessness of the blond in sight, so he egged it. "Did something noteworthy happen between Hinata-sama and you last Saturday?"

"Eh…"

Neji could see the wheels turning inside the other's head, but they weren't moving fast enough. The Hyuuga could only recall one event when someone ever described him as a patient man, and it was in a statement bathed with sarcasm.

"Typical," Neji sighed out. Whatever had happened, it would have probably been prevented if he had been there. But no! Tenten had to go and make a scene about how deranged it was to keep a close eye on family. "Women," he tooted, if he had known she would make a scene he would've asked Lee to come along instead.

But as it was all he could deduce was that Hinata had a close lip on whatever she did which concerned Naruto, but the esteemed boy was clueless about it himself.

"Fine then," Neji announced as he made his way inside the gates, "It seems I have a mutt with fleas to interrogate, so good morning to you, Uzumaki. I'd like to hear a report from you on how having a Hyuuga tutor has dramatically improved your grades, but I must leave."

"Okay…, ne!" Naruto hyped, waving his hand too, "Good morning to you, Neji!"

Called it pride, but Naruto was glad people were noticing his recent good grades.

However, when Naruto raised his right arm to wave his goodbye, Neji's all-seeing eyes couldn't help to notice something in the way the boy's torso pressed against the insides of his black t-shirt.

"I see you're not wearing your necklace today." The Hyuuga observed, "Good idea, to be sincere it has always baffled me how it hasn't shattered from the amount of tussling you do daily."

And with that, Neji left, proud of himself for being able to hold civil conversation with even those on an intellectually lower level. And unlike Hinata who failed at keeping her emotions in check, he prided himself on his ability of being cordial even with amicable troublemakers.

"My necklace…?" Naruto said with a confused expression as he patted the area on his chest were his necklace would usually be hanging. "Oh that's right," he said with purpose, "I gotta find Hinata!"

**-x-x-x- (At the Janitor's closet during morning class intermission) -x-x-x-**

"Damn, that stamina freak just doesn't know when to quit," Kiba said quietly, observing Shino and Hinata. They heard Naruto's voice outside, asking people if they've seen Hinata. The trio remained quiet as they then heard a dog bark and lead the scavenging boy away.

"Yeesh," Kiba complained again, "That Naruto can be persistent when he wants to be. Good thing Akamaru is so well trained, eh?" he said nudging the side of his friends, but the depressing aura quickly killed his chiding. "What?" he asked, "Too early to joke?"

Hinata started crying. Naruto was actively looking for her and she was hiding. The irony of it! In a world as vast as this one, no one could really measure the distance between one another. That was why people were always frantically searching for that one person they need no distance from. And here she was, hiding from him.

"Naruto's necklace…" Shino started and Hinata started crying louder. "Naruto's necklace got stolen and…"

Now Hinata was even hiccupping. Shino sighed. He'll have to cut short his already rehearsed four minutes speech to one of just a few seconds if he ever wanted to finish the story without provoking the second great flood. This meant he'll have to lay it plain and raw.

"Hinata got duped and Naruto's necklace ended up stolen and we got no way to trace it."

"Waahhhh…" Hinata wailed, but she did so while trying to stop her tears. So she was making faces like if she had tasted something sour and… Kiba decided to stop staring at her face before he started laughing at how funny she looked. It would be inappropriate and he'll end up accused of being a douche. So he kept a poker face on.

"What do you mean you can't trace it?" he asked and Shino answered.

"We asked the manager about an employee called Kurotsuchi but he said there isn't such a name among the people he hired. We then explained the situation and asked to view the security cameras. There was no video footage of the time when the theft happened. Whoever this Kurotsuchi person was, she already had the drop on them. The manager… he doesn't want to call the cops on it and even threatened us against doing anything. He said it was bad publicity and it wasn't his problem since the jewelry stolen did not even belong to the store itself."

"Okay… so what do we do now?" Kiba then asked.

"We go to our next class," the other boy answered and then advised Hinata that it'll be better to just tell the truth first. He did this, explaining that they won't be able to proceed clearly with the next step unless they first admitted their faults.

Kiba agreed with the words of wisdom. She had to keep it together and be strong in times of hardship. She too knew this but…

"But I… I…"

"I know Hinata, but it's not like you can exactly avoid him," Kiba commented as they made their way to their next class. When they arrived, he pointed at the seat right in front of her desk, "Naruto sits right there, remember?"

The girl nodded her head and quietly took her seat. Class was about to begin so she'll have to talk to him after it ends. Or at least that's what she hoped. But as it dwelled on her mind, the object of her concerns poked her on her forehead and said "Hi".

"Na-Na-Naruto-kun!"

"Hey Hinata," he said again to make sure he got her attention. He could never be too sure with her. "I forgot to take my necklace back so," he extended his hand to her, "Can you fork it over, please?"

"Hi!" She replied automatically before her nerves got to her. "Um… I…. I…" she started, trembling as she tried to find the strength to tell him she lost something valuable.

Her nerves were starting to fry, but she wouldn't let herself be defeated.

"Um, Na-Naruto-kun"

No matter the situation, no matter how much it might hurt her afterwards, no matter how much she would stutter or trip on her own words, she would always say what needed to be said.

"I lo-lo-lost…"

She would hold her tears in, even as she would tell him she lost the most valuable thing he had to his name.

What would he feel about her once she told him? She already knew he thought she was dark and weird, but that he liked people like her. But what would he _feel_? "_I really have no idea how Naruto-kun feels… about me. I really, don't know"_

"Whoa Hinata!" A gruff voice cut in, "You're heating up!" Then another calmer but slightly stressed voice said, "We need to get something to lower your fever". And with that she watched mutely as her two friends lifted her by the arms and escorted her out the classroom. They walked pass the nurse's office and made a beeline back to the janitor's closet.

Kiba was the first to break the silence, again, with Shino replying to everything.

"Okay that won't work"

"Hinata, I'm sorry we made you go through that."

"We? 'fessing up was your dumb idea, not mi-"

_**Knock, knock, knock**_

The three went quiet. Maybe the knocks they heard were not coming from their particular door.

_**Knock, knock, knock**_

Okay, it was obvious it was their door that was getting knocked on but they still didn't have to answer. Maybe the person would take the hint and walk away.

Then they heard some light and repetitive stomping on the floor. The kind of stomping one would do when getting impatient. Hinata fidgeted, Kiba mulled on whether to open the door nicely or forcefully so that he could _accidentally_ slam it on whoever was knocking, and Shino sighed and opened the door to be greeted by the last person they needed to encounter.

Neji Hyuuga.

"I heard Hinata-sama had a fever," he drawled, clearly not amused by what he was observing, "but I find you three hidden here when I'm perfectly sure Nurse Shizune's office was on the way from your classroom to here."

Hinata and Shino were temporarily stumped by the male Hyuuga's forwardness. He was quick to the chase, stating the facts with that ever present demeaning quality he often used toward his juniors. Kiba on the other hand got defensive quickly and started barking snide comments back. "And yet you have your own classroom but you're never there. Funny how life works, oi?" Yeah, talking back to superiors was nothing different than an everyday conversation with his mother. It was already programmed on the Inuzuka.

"What Kiba meant to say was we seem to have gotten lost," Shino responded, quickly falling in tune with his friend, "Hinata, you know where the nurse's office is. Why don't you go ahead?"

"But I'm not really…"

"Go!" both her friends said, causing her to nod and leave. Shino and Kiba wanted to escape with her but what they couldn't tell her was that their feet weren't responding to them. It was as if they were being held there by Neji's judgmental stare. Boys had their pride, after all. Neji too, made no effort in stopping her.

Once she was gone, her two friends braced themselves for the verbal assault that was bound to happen eventually. In retrospect, it surprised them Neji hadn't confronted them before.

"I'll start by making myself clear," Neji started, briefly eyeing Shino up and down before sending one long unblinking leer at Kiba, "I don't particularly like either of you."

"Oi, so you don't like me, eh?" Kiba started, pumping his chest out, "Well remember that it's mind over matter. I don't mind and you don't matter."

"Oh," Neji responded almost laughing as he circled around the other. "Does your mind think using that tone on an upperclassman won't matter?"

Neji then stopped moving to bring his right hand to his chin, "but what am I saying? Of course you didn't think things through. The smarter part of your brain is missing. Hmmm," he pretended to think, "Now where was it that I locked that dog I found wondering around without a leash?"

Kiba's hand absentmindedly lowered, wiggling his fingers, expecting Akamaru to lick them but he never felt that slippery tongue. He huffed. He made a move towards Neji but then retreated, moved back a couple a steps to pace around, his tattooed face scowling angrily at the longer haired brunet. Then he huffed again and didn't even try to disguise the punch he threw.

Chocolate tresses flowed like the wind as Neji, in a twirl that would bring the green in the eyes of bun-head dancers, evaded the attack and even shoved the aggressor to a halt against freshly painted walls.

Neji would've laughed at this if his own head hadn't been gently smacked to the wall as well.

"What the?" Neji turned around to see Shino, still with his assaulting hand up, not even bothering to conceal it. Kiba too had to blink his confusion away before echoing Neji's "what the?"

"We're in the halls on class hours and we're wasting time," was all the tallest of the boys offered initially, but as the baffled stares continued to peer on him, he added an "and I sort of felt excluded" to the end of his statement.

Kiba started laughing and Neji slowly passed a hand through his hair before letting out a dignified huff. "Fine then," he said, "I'm here because I know Hinata is hiding a secret concerning Naruto and I know you two are in on it." The other two were about to retort but Neji shush them by raising a hand, "And no, I am not talking about her obvious crush on him."

"If it's a secret you will understand why we can't share it," Shino said in a way that reminded Kiba of a politician, "Just rest assured that we are taking care of it."

"Well you're obviously not doing a ve-"

"He said we're taking care of it!" Kiba interjected, still itching for a little brawl.

Neji, again, gave both of them a hard stare before admitting that so far neither of them have been a bad influence on his cousin nor had let her astray. "I'll leave this to you two then." He said, releasing his hostage from against the wall. "Kiba, your mutt has been in your class by Naruto's side all this time. So let us consider this encounter a warning of what could've happened. But," he said composing himself to leave, "if this isn't resolved within a week, you'll be hearing from me again."

"Or just plain seeing you for the following hour," a teacher interjected nonchalantly, causing the three brunets to turn around and see the girl's P.E. teacher, filing her nails with an all too pleased smile on her face.

"Mrs. Mitarashi," Neji started but the teacher didn't let him finished. They could tell she was really pleased with herself.

"No no, Hyuuga," she responded, "when I heard a ruckus, was I surprised to see the Inuzuka? Nah, not really. Did I expect to the Aburame? It was bound to happen by association. But," and her eyes really did glittered when she said that "but". "But to see an Elite Honor Student such as a Hyuuga mixed in this. Oh you just made me a legend in the faculty. Because _today_," she emphasized that last word, "will be the day these following set of words will be pronounced. Neji Hyuuga, your friends and you have just earned yourselves detention for the rest of the class you were all supposed to be attending. Now follow me," she even did a curtsy, "I'll escort you."

Yeah, Anko couldn't wait to tell Kurenai and Yugao about this one.

**-x-x-x- (Lunch hour: Boy's Perspective) -x-x-x-**

To say she was impressed would be the understatement of the year. Was it possible? To some miniscule degree, yes, but it still seemed unreal to Yugao Uzuki, the substitute teacher. She truly believed that the odds would rather favor her future children inheriting purple hair than they would her ever witnessing such a sight. But here she was, occupying the library desk while observing _the_ Naruto Uzumaki _reading_ a book that was not a graphic novel, _quietly._

Of course, she was quick to notice the granola bar the boy thought he successfully snuck in, but she would not march there and scold him for violating the library rules. If the boy was indeed under some sort of spell, she would definitely not risk breaking it. So instead she chose to remain at the desk, marveling at the sight.

Until she noticed the interference of another one of the wild cards Konoha High had to offer, the socially awkward junior known as Sai.

She saw as the pale boy, always dressed in black, made his way to the uncharacteristically studious blond to sit next to him. But then she realized that today really was a weird day, because on his face another rare sight was seen.

An expression

Yeah, she couldn't wait to tell Anko and Kurenai about this one.

The book Naruto was _**trying**_ to read was the one that supposedly had the answer to solve the interpersonal problems he had to deal with, according to Jiraiya. So naturally the teen decided the faster he went through it, the better. After all, the old guy had been adamant that Naruto should not do anything else until the book was read.

He knew he was the type of person that got distracted easily so he figured the library was his best bet. Nothing ever happens in a boring place like this. But as he tried to read he felt someone staring intensely at him. Now, he's grown accustomed to being targeted by all kinds of eyes, from those who would wish him ill to those that held delight in them. But the particular set of eyes digging into him held no particular set of real emotions. Yet the stare was nevertheless persistent and invading.

It was Sai's.

Naruto knew it was him. Not a minute after he had sat down to read the other sat next to him, without saying a word. Not even "hi".

In reality, Sai just wanted Naruto to be the one to initiate the conversation. So the substitute teacher kept observing them for any development.

The sophomore finally lifted his gaze at the upperclassman and said, "hi".

"Hi," Sai smiled with that practiced smile of his, "I didn't realize you enjoyed reading books."

"I don't," Naruto let out flatly, burying himself back into the book, "But I'll read this."

Sai nodded and continued smiling, his eyes off Naruto this time. After a minute of silence passed, Sai spoke again.

"I heard that in the weekend you and some friends went to the movies."

"Yeah," Naruto let out, "It was a blast. Hanging out with friends is the best."

"So I've read," the other responded, and another minute of silence passed before Sai continued with the conversation. "I heard Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Neji and Tenten were there too." He smiled again and closed his eyes, "So… I was just wondering if there was a reason I wasn't invited."

"…"

"… Naruto?" Sai said, but Naruto was busy reading, so Sai nudged him, "Dickless," he said and still got no response. So he blew in his ear.

"Wha-What the heck?!" Naruto spluttered, "The heck, Sai, the heck!"

"What?" Sai asked curiously, "You were none responsive and I read in a book that blowing into your partner's ear alerts and arouses them into a more receptive state"

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "Just what kind of books are you reading?"

"Oh," Sai perked up at the possibility of Naruto actually showing interest in his hobbies, "Well, the books I like to…"

"Ahhhhh," Naruto yelled, racking nails through his hair back and forth, "I need to read this." Then he buried himself back into his book.

"… I like to read about friendship" Sai finished with another smile. "Though I can't seem to get it right yet" he finished but Naruto wasn't paying attention again.

For some reason he couldn't quite grasp he hadn't managed to get on better terms with Naruto or Sakura. He had presented drawings for them, had tried initiating conversation with them, and had thought he made some progress. Yet still, they still functioned on their own private agendas and didn't include him in any of their plans. He pondered on it and concluded that out of three people, two couldn't be the problem. So if there was something not computing it was probably his own fault.

Yet all the books said that in this type of situation the best solution was to talk it out. Yet here he was, trying to communicate but Naruto preferred to read a book instead. Something the blond himself admitted he hated doing.

**-x-x-x- (Outside the Library) -x-x-x-**

Kurenai Yuuhi was on her way to the library to pay Yugao a visit when she spotted Shino and Kiba mumbling things to each other in front of the school's library, both looking inside as if spying on someone, on a lunch hour. Normally these two preferred to dine outside, favoring the fresh air, and normally, these two would be around Hinata Hyuuga. She was to question her two students about this but she overheard Shino tell Kiba the latter should do something for Hinata.

"What? Why me?" Kiba grumbled.

"Because…" Shino answered.

"…because what?" Kiba challenged.

"Nothing," Shino replied, "Just because."

"…okay…" Kiba withdrew, seemingly convinced, "Fine, I'll tell him."

"_Tell whom what about Hinata?"_ the teacher wandered as she saw Kiba put his game face on before entering.

Another minute had passed since the substitute teacher saw Naruto and Sai interact. After it, the upperclassman took his leave but stopped at the door as he saw another student, with red tattoos on his cheeks walk up to Naruto. It was almost immediate how the newcomer swiped the blond's book away and started chatting animatedly with him. The substitute teacher glanced back at the door but Sai was no longer there.

"Oh well," she told herself. Seeing as Naruto was no longer studying, was talking loudly with the other, and was even eating at the library, she got off her desk and _escorted_ them both outside with a complementary detention slip for disturbing the peace and violating the no food rule.

**-x-x-x- (Lunch hour: Girl's Perspective) -x-x-x-**

It was another one of those bizarre days. Boring with the imminent feeling that something sensational was about to occur, but still didn't, making the already boring day drag even longer because of an unfounded sense of anticipation. _"When did school become so boring?"_ Ino pondered as she tried to enjoy her light meal. She was sitting with the other girls at the cafeteria, the popular girls. Sakura was there too, but she was too busy with her phone to even notice how dull the day was.

"Weird," Ino said inaudibly, the blonde found it weird that Naruto or that new third, Sai, weren't beside the girl with the artificial hair color. One day, Ino assured herself, she would find what Sakura's real hair color was. Preferably, before their graduation.

But now that Ino thought about it, lately Sakura would sit at the other table with the boys, and the other gang. Glancing at the table she noticed only Hinata was sitting there, alone.

"Now that's really weird, why is Hinata there alone?"

"Eh?" the other girls at the table responded, making Ino realized she spoke her mind aloud. "Well," she said to explain her comment, "It's just that normally Shino and Kiba, and even Naruto and Sai would be sitting there with Hinata." She then search to see if she could spot Chouji and Shikamaru but the found them in a corner playing chess.

"Hmm," She thought to herself, looking to explain the turn of events. The only noteworthy thing to occur was the Hyuuga apparently had a fever before first period started, and her two friends took her to the infirmary. But Hinata was the only one to return to class while the other two suspiciously never returned. Then Naruto, instead of running off to the cafeteria like he normally would, went to the other direction. Maybe he went to do something with Sai? But that wouldn't make sense. Sakura was sitting right beside her and she didn't look worried about anything. If Naruto was up to something, surely the pink haired girl would be on his case already.

"Hahahahaha,"

The laughing interrupted Ino's trail of thought, as she realized the girls around her were chatting avidly about something.

Mockingly

"I just can't stand a girl like her, right? Always acting so timidly around the boys and such."

"Ugh, she's such a housewife"

"Keeping her head down like that and giving the boys a cutesy upward glance like that when spoken to. Ew, like get over yourself."

"Like yeah, it makes me sick. Are guys really into girls like her? She makes the rest of us look bad."

"And she's not even that pretty."

"I know, she used to be this ugly girl but then suddenly the boobs came in and now she's all vulgarly fragile."

"Remember three years ago when she was so fat and disgusting looking."

"Yeah, she pisses me off."

"No wonder she doesn't have any girlfriends. Cutesy pigs like her are always only surrounded by boys."

It didn't take Ino long to figure out the girls were bitching about Hinata. With the way they kept scuffing while glancing at the girl who sat alone at the cafeteria. Thinking back to it, the second she realized Hinata was sitting alone, she should've invited her to sit with the rest of them. _"Damn, I must be off my game today."_ But now it was too late to invite her. Not now with all the other girls hating on the lone girl. And the worse part of it, Ino realized, was that she herself was the one that probably started this. If she hadn't pointed out that Hinata was sitting alone, the other girls wouldn't have noticed.

"It's just the atmosphere. She makes herself look weak, but she makes it look as if she is really giving it her all to strive, just so that the boys would think she's cute"

"What? Really? So she puts on this cutesy act around the boys?

"Yeah, I know, I used to say 'hi' to her out of pity."

"Oh wow, you are so nice. They should give Miss Congeniality awards every semester. I'm sure you'd win them all."

"I know, right?"

"Hahahahahahahahaha,"

Now that was really offensive. These girls were all talking smack about Hinata, and they didn't even know her at all. Hinata was the nicest, sweetest girl Ino has ever met. And she wasn't fake either! Hinata was a girl with a strong heart and an unbreakable will. Boys just like her for her… and the boobs helped too. Hinata comes from a family that pressures her with sky high expectations, like all stereotypical Asian families do to their children when attending an American school. Yet Hinata still managed to resist being molded into what her father wanted from her. That girl was as real as they came!

These were the things Ino wanted to say. And she would have if it were only a couple of girls she had to handle; but the problem was that it was all of the girls at the table who were dropping insults.

All of them

As they kept on with their offensive comments, Ino noticed from the corner of her eyes that Sakura too grew aware of this but quickly pretended to be on her phone when she noticed Ino staring, but not without first looking apologetic about it. Meaning, Sakura wasn't going to defend Hinata. And a girl like Hinata shouldn't even have to go through these types of things but… then again, Hinata didn't really ever make an effort to befriend other people outside Kiba and Shino, whom both just happened to be guys.

"_I, I'm not okay with being alone." _Ino's heart confessed. She knew this to be true. She had Shikamaru and Chouji, but she still ventured toward Sakura and some other girls. It's impossible to be with guys all the time. There were things only a girl should deal with as well as things only boys should deal with. Ino knew from day one she feared isolation. Only around friends did she feel confident in her abilities. She can't help it; her father raised her that way. Ino was a hothead sometimes, she wouldn't deny, but she wouldn't do anything reckless unless she knew her friends would back her up.

"Ugh, but that Hinata really pisses me off"

"It's just that the boys like the obedient type, right? As the idiots they are?"

"_Actually, Naruto isn't really attracted to the obedient types, is he?"_ As far as Ino has seen, Naruto has always pursued the type of people who talked down on him. He's such a glutton for pain sometimes. _"Wait, why am I even thinking about him?"_ But she really did have to wonder. She knew Hinata liked the boy but… did Naruto like her back, like at all?

"How can she just sit there eating her food alone?"

"She's so full of herself. I bet that if she wanted, she could get any boy to sit with her."

"She'll never blend with us. That's why we can't invite her to sit with us."

Anger was boiling up. These girls had no right to talk about Hinata like that. _"I should defend her."_ Ino thought, but she didn't. And it wasn't because she was afraid of going against all the other cool girls from her class. Heck, there once was a girl who got bullied everyday day because of her supposedly large forehead. Ino defended and befriended her but in the end all she got as payback was a girl who tried to steal her popularity and love interest. But that girl she took pity on eventually did turn out to become her friend.

With Hinata it was the reverse case. She was her friend, and because of it, Ino pitied the small amount of friends the Hyuuga girl had made on her own. The comments came to a halt when a menacing aura filled the cafeteria. It was a presence hard to ignore, that of a new guy with an obvious criminal past.

Gaara's

They all observed as the eyebrows-less boy walked with his tray of food toward the table Hinata was seated. He stopped beside her and in a quiet voice that carried over, he asked if he may seat there. The shy girl nodded and the boy slowly made his way to the opposite side of the table to place his tray there.

"See," the girl beside Ino started, "Told you a disgusting girl like Hinata could easily get any guy to…"

The girl never got to finish her sentence, because as she did Gaara turned around and gave her a menacing glare, before settling down with Hinata.

"_That boy sure has a powerful presence,"_ Ino thought sourly to herself, because it made her realize the boy did what she herself wanted to do. Shut the girls off. Question was, was it coincidence? Were the girls talking so loud that Gaara did this to defend her? Why would Gaara, of all people, suddenly start defending people? But if that was the case, and the girls were really speaking too loudly, did that meant that even Hinata could hear them?

"No," Ino covered her mouth in astonishment. She couldn't guarantee that what Gaara did was just a mere coincidence, but what if Hinata could really hear them? _"Why didn't I stop this? Why did I hesitate? Why did I allow it?"_ These were the questions that were now plaguing her. This lack of respect, this freedom of speech, and the nonchalant way the girls addressed her served as a strong revelation to Ino.

A leader did not cower, a leader did not fear she wouldn't be liked for thinking differently, and a leader did not just stand by and not fight for what she believed in. She was the class rep, she should've kept order. When did she start growing soft? Such weakness could cause a revolt. She needed to set the example.

"_I've never been the type to sit back and let others fight my battles so… why did I hesitate? Why didn't I feel secure in myself?"_

Not two minutes later, Sai, followed by Shino also sat with Hinata. Then Shikamaru and Chouji followed. Sai waved at Sakura, who sighed in response, got up and sat next to him. Making the other girls wander if Sakura and Sai were an item or something of the like. The change of topic made Ino tune them out, angry at how Sakura unapologetically sat between Sai and Hinata, and angry at herself for not having the courage to do the same.

**-x-x-x- (After School Hours) –x-x-x-**

"Hey guys, guess what?" Kiba said with a happy grin, "Naruto and I got talking about this really cool game. So tomorrow I'm sleeping over at his place to play it." Yep, practically a nighttime date with the other boy. Kiba's face was practically glowing with joy at the notion. He really felt good about how things panned out.

"…and?" Shino asked, clearly expecting other news.

"And what?" Kiba countered, no longer feeling confident about his personal achievement.

"Did… um… did you tell him?" Hinata asked almost apologetically. She felt guilty for troubling him with her situation.

"Ah… hehehehe," Kiba laughed awkwardly, "I couldn't. I mean, he was all smiles so you know…"

"Interesting," Shino commented, pushing his dark shades back against his face, "I understand Hinata not being able to confront his smile but it surprises me that even you would be afraid to make it frown."

"Yeah well," Kiba quickly got on the defensive, "what about you, eh? Why don't you tell him?"

"…I…can't"

"Eh, why not?"

Shino looked away, picking the curiosity of both Kiba and Hinata. "Naruto and I have finally started speaking with each other after all these years so…" Shino stopped, taking time to breathe in and out his heavy confession. "I don't want to risk ending it by delivering bad news".

"…" Kiba and Hinata continued staring.

"…" Shino remained silent.

Kiba broke the silence.

"Wow… I had no idea you were so selfish."

Akamaru barked, agreeing with his owner.

So there laid the three, unable to move to the next phase of their plan. Hinata fidgeted with her hands, Kiba patted Akamaru, and Shino stood still like a statue, all wondering what their next step should be. That is, until Shino came with his next brilliant idea.

"How about we just tell Naruto, together, all three of us?"

"Tell me what?" the boy in question asked, appearing beside them, perked up at the event of people wanting to talk to him.

"Ah…," Kiba started but quieted. Shino elbowed him to continue. "Ah… well, oh yeah," the boy then said as if he had realized something, "Want to grab a bite with us? We sort of want to talk to you."

"We," Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow as he glanced at the three, "do you guys always go everywhere together?"

"Yeah, we do," Kiba answered on the defensive. Something about the way Naruto raised his eyebrow pegged him wrong. "We go places together, y'know, that's how friendship works." He then feigned interest in his knuckles as he tried to speak as indifferently as he could, "Not that you would know anything about functioning as a unit."

"Eh?"

"Hey don't look at me like that." Kiba responded, adding a customary shoulder shrug, "It's no news to anyone that Sasuke, Sakura and you were a dysfunctional trio. Sorry man".

Naruto gritted his teeth before pushing the other back. "Take that back, dog breath! You know nothing about us three!"

"Don't go pushing me, fox face. Just telling it how it was. Accept it and get over it, sheesh."

Shino then pulled his friend back and tried to make peace by explaining what Kiba meant, in a way that hopefully didn't sound antagonizing. "What Kiba means to say is that you three had no real teamwork. It would either be Sakura trying to get with Sasuke, you trying to get with Sakura, or Sasuke and you challenging each other."

"So what's your point?"

"Naruto…" Kiba continued, going around Shino to face the blond upfront again, "did you ever try to do something with Sakura that involved hanging with Sasuke too or did you just wanted to go someplace alone with her? In that same sense, did you ever come up with a prank, strategy or challenge with or against Sasuke that involved Sakura's help or was she always kept as a bystander in the things you did with him?"

"Uh…"

"Kiba's point exactly" Shino finished, or intended to, but Kiba had always felt the need to say the last word.

"Truth hurts" he said, "Hinata agrees with me on this point". And of course, Kiba's favorite tactic for winning any argument was by outnumbering the odds by saying Hinata agrees, even when half of the time, she didn't really. This made Shino want to facepalm. They were supposed to help Hinata and Naruto get together, not dig a gap between them.

"Yeah," Naruto fronted, dusting the imaginary dust of his shoulder as he addressed Kiba, "Yeah well I got something important to read, so bye!"

"Fine!" Kiba scuffed.

"Fine!" Naruto scuffed back.

"I already said fine." Kiba said condescendingly as he walked pass the blond, purposely bumping his shoulder into him. Naruto turned to shout something back but felt deflated when Hinata timidly bowed her head at him and said her goodbyes. He scratched the bridge under his nose and awkwardly said bye to her.

"Stupid dog breath," he grumbled after the three were gone. Tomorrow, when Kiba came by to stay the night, Naruto will make sure he adds salt to whatever drink he offers the dog boy. "Heheheh," Naruto couldn't help snickering as he imagined the sour face Kiba would make.

"Uzumaki Naruto…," a gravel filled voice called, creeping the hell out of Naruto as he turned to see Gaara standing there, with empty looking eyes surrounded by a heavy mascara. Truly, every time the red head crept behind him he couldn't sense him, but once he did, all Naruto would be able to see and feel was his presence.

"Um… hi Gaara, what's up?"

Gaara frowned as he broke eye contact. He stared at his feet, frustrated. Met eyes with Naruto but then looked away, this time to the right. He took a digital camera out and glared at it as if it was the cause of whatever internal dilemma he was having. Naruto asked if something was wrong but Gaara just briefly met eyes with him before glaring at the camera again. It seemed like he was being forced to do something that involved the camera. The problem was figuring out what?

"My sister," he finally said, actually looking bashful for once, "My sister insists I take a picture with…. my… two… friends."

"Eh?"

"Rock Lee and you," he revealed. The redhead then frowned and sent the blond a menacing glare. He wasn't going to back down from this. Not if he wanted to avoid having his sister nag him all night long about this. She was relentless when she wanted something and she had already set the frame in his room where she would place the photo of his friends and him. "Damn this," the redhead cursed, he actually felt bashful about this.

"I don't mind taking a picture," Naruto laughed light-heartedly. It seemed Gaara was really making an effort to change his ways. He even said they were friends. "But I don't see Bushy-brows"

Again, Gaara frowned and looked away, before glaring back and commanding Naruto to do something about that. After receiving a scowl, Gaara tried again but tried to choose a nicer set of words.

"I was hoping you could talk to him for me," he said honestly, though his face and voice reverted to revealing no emotions, "It's rare to find him without his two other friends or that annoying mother hen he so emulates. It's uncomfortable to approach him about this with his established friends so blatantly present".

"Hey! I have friends too and you're talking to me about it!" Naruto reasoned out.

"You have friends… I've noticed that to be true". Gaara paused, giving himself a break to formulate well his observations. "You have lots of friends but I've noticed that you're not the type to follow the crowd. Somehow it feels like you're not on their same wavelength and are always pushing to do and settle things on your own, your way. Like a selfish person."

"Who are you calling selfish?!"

"I… meant no offense by this observation, as I said, it's obvious to me that you have lot of friends" he clarified, before continuing with his observations. "However, at the end of the day, even just now, you always move on your own, leaving your friends to cluster among themselves without you".

"…yeah well…" Naruto pouted and frowned at the same time. What Gaara just said sounded strangely familiar to what Kiba said. Heck, even Jiraiya said something similar the other day.

"I… wouldn't mind walking a path like that." Gaara confided, now having an easier time speaking his mind. "I don't need the constant company, my siblings are present enough at it is, but to know I have friends everywhere I look. I don't think I'd be able to hate such a sentiment". Though he will have to admit to himself that he did feel uncomfortable when a large group of people shared his cafeteria table. He had chosen the table where a girl he recognized from class sat alone. And he only chose that table because there was only one person there. Then he felt someone say something about him and he glared at the person. But as soon as he did, people he had never care to speak to sat there with him. He easily recognized Sai, Naruto's co-worker, and Sakura, the girl he beat up when he first met Naruto. Sakura didn't make eye contact once with him during the lunch break, but nobody else seemed to mind they were sharing a table with him.

Truth be told, he wanted to leave as soon as other people sat with him, but his body turned rigid and he felt like if he would suffer a seizure if he tried to move. Not to mention he was already fighting against his usual psychotic thoughts.

"I say we go to the gym," Naruto said, giving Gaara the thumbs up, "I bet Bushy-brows is running his afterschool laps about now."

Effectively, they found Rock Lee running through his laps, with their Coach Gai yelling cheesy words of encouragement. Both Naruto and Gaara decided to just sit by the bleachers until the athlete finished. No sense in getting involved in that teach-student appreciation-fest.

It actually felt nice, for Gaara, to be able to just sit there, with a friend, while listening to said friend shout random phrases at Lee like "Go Bushy-brows," and "Your running is weird!" It actually felt like the perfect time to make conversation. Something he didn't even realize he ever wanted to do.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he started, "There is something else I wanted to talk to you about." Again, he felt like he was threading another uncomfortable topic, but this one wasn't forced on him. This topic was born from genuine curiosity. "We two are similar, aren't we? This thing that always makes me hate myself. How do you manage to not let it bother you?"

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, yet he recalled encountering Gaara at the hospital that only tends to people with rare or untreatable diseases. "Oh, that." He frowned. He didn't enjoy being reminded of it. He still sort of regretted revealing it to Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura specifically, she freaked out as soon as he said it. Sasuke didn't really understand it at first but the next day he had shown genuine concern after investigating it.

"I guess I don't really have to deal with it," Naruto let out, "I mean at first I did but not anymore." He still remembered his harsh infancy. "I was born without parents; and when I was really young a rich couple wanted to adopt me. Thing is they took me to a lab to check if I was genetically predisposed to any serious diseases and guess what, turns out I was. After that, it appeared on my medical record and nobody wanted to adopt me anymore. The people taking care of me also stopped treating me kindly. I no longer had a future in their eyes."

"My mother died of it shortly after having me," Gaara confided, also taking his turn to talk about his childhood. "My father didn't know she had the disease when they got married. It's of dominant inheritance so chances were half of her children will also have it," at this, an emotion akin to hate made his way onto his voice, "It is actually unethical to get tested for it. The United States of America is firm in its stand against genetic counseling for it, especially on young children. My father however, tested my siblings and I after mom died. They were the lucky ones."

Gaara felt a lump form on his throat as he spoke of this. He swallowed it before finishing his story. "This neurodegenerative disorder has genetic anticipation, meaning the children of the deceased will suffer from it at a younger age the parent did. My mom was no older than thirty when she died. Father, to him I don't exist. A son is someone who can continue the legacy of his father. So he won't bother on someone without a future."

"But, that can't be true," Naruto offered, sounding a little panicky, "Pervy Sage, the guy that adopted me, said he found out my parents died of an accident. But that I'd probably get the disease when I turn forty five or something like that."

"Oh…" Gaara said, pausing as realization stroke him, "Uzumaki Naruto, you don't have seizures, do you?" he asked, to which the blond shook his head no. He also shook his head when Gaara asked him about jerky movements, defective muscle coordination, declines in cognitive or mental abilities, abrupt behavioral changes, suicidal thoughts and episodes of psychosis.

"You have the Adult Onset," the redhead stated, realizing at the same time as Naruto that the disease ran faster on Gaara.

"Don't say it," Naruto said, his voice sounding pleading. _"Is this how Sakura felt when she found out about me?"_ It was his first time seeing the disease from an outsider's perspective. When people pitied him, he got angry. He didn't want any of it. He hid it. Outside from his two friends and Jiraiya, only Principal Tsunade and Nurse Shizune knew about this. Aside from all the medical staff whose hands his medical record ever went to. But to actually meet someone else, with the same disease but an even worse onset, he couldn't stop his eyes from watering. It was one confession hard to swallow.

"There is no need to hide it." Gaara said solemnly, "I'm actually glad our school Principal allowed me to attend Konoha at such a weird time schedule. The way she stared at me when she accepted my application gave away that she already knew someone in the same situation." He sighed, "I guess even among the unlucky ones there are those luckier than others."

Then Gaara said the words Naruto didn't want to hear.

"I have the Juvenile Onset Huntington's disease."

**-x-x-x-(Late Afternoon: Outlets)-x-x-x-**

They ran. They caught a wind of hope and they ran to it. Shino had been looking for pawn shops or jewelry stores online. He figured that by today it should be the earliest a stolen necklace like Naruto's would appear, only if the jewel was sold locally. Chances were slim but when he refreshed the page he found it on the new arrivals list. The trio were now running to the outlet, Kiba ahead with Akamaru, Hinata with her credit card in hand, and lastly Shino, trying to keep up without looking like he was getting exhausted.

The dog owner of the three had refused to believe it a first. There was no way such a piece would end up at an outlet, but then again, he was never into jewelry so he really couldn't estimate its worth. But one look at the online page and Hinata was already on her way. Shino tried calling, but the line was busy. And it couldn't be bought online either.

"Woof" Akamaru would bark as they closed in on the shop but before Kiba could reach it, the dog took a left and ran to the opposite direction of the shop. "Not that way!" Kiba yelled, running to catch his dog, and leaving Hinata and Shino to themselves. "Get the necklace you two!" he said as he followed his pet, letting his friends know not to wait for him.

Akamaru kept speeding until he toppled a couple, quickly climbing on the female of the two.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Kiba apologized repeatedly as he finally reached his dog and yank him off the tackled female. _"This is bad."_ He thought as he yelled at his dog, something he hated doing. "You don't jump on strangers like that!" It was really bad. What if the girl got injured? Would they press charges? Akamaru hasn't done something like that before. But the dog, instead of looking apologetic like all trained dogs should look, he kept barking at the girl as her boyfriend helped her up. "Shut it, Akamaru! Do this again and I'll put you on a leash!"

Finally getting his dog to calm down, he dreadfully took it upon himself to bow at the couple like Hinata would do, and proceed to throw one apology after the other, inserting a "please don't sue" between his excuses. He kept his head down, waiting for the inevitable rebuke, and he even braced himself for the punch the boyfriend was sure to throw at him. But when nothing came he slowly looked up to meet the couple the dog had troubled.

The couple looked like they were high-classed and in their mid-thirties. The male stood tall, wearing a black suit, black tie, and a violet dress shirt, his hair a weird orange color. The female, also stood tall with her high heels, also wearing a black backless dress, showing cleavage and the dress would open to reveal her right leg. Long, toned and hairless. Her hair was an electric blue color. Both of them had more piercings than what Kiba could count but they still managed to look classy with them. Bad-ass, and regrettably for Kiba, they looked like mafia. The type that could shoot him dead over the simplest provocation, stash his body, and never be found.

And both of them were staring at him disapprovingly.

"Kiba," Shino called for him, with Hinata in tow, "We were late. The necklace was already bought."

"Hah!" Hinata gasped, pointing a shaky finger at the lady with the piercings. Around her neck, Naruto's necklace.

"Holy shit," Kiba let out inaudibly. Now he knew why Akamaru did what he did.

"My necklace," the lady said after sending the dog a glare, "is there a reason you're staring at it so intently?"

"Well, you see," Kiba started but was surprise when Hinata spoke over him and said, "That's Naruto's necklace!" Surprising even herself for the outburst, Hinata felt pressured to continue speaking as she told everything about how the necklace got stolen to how she really liked the boy it belonged to. The couple would throw an impassive glance toward each other as the story went on, and after Hinata finished, the lady shook her head and said. "The story you told me is one hard to believe, but if the emotions you've attached to this necklace are of great value then you should've never taken it off. Now it is too late to lay claim to that which is no longer yours to hold". And with that she grabbed her partner by the hand, ready to leave. Yet Hinata surprised them all again by blocking their way and spreading her arms wide so that they couldn't go pass her.

"I can't let it end like this!" Hinata said, sounding like she was about to cry but resolute in her stance. "I used to always cry and give up... I made many wrong turns... but Na-Naruto-kun... Naruto Uzumaki helped me find the right path!" she revealed, "I always chased after him... I wanted to catch up to him... I wanted to walk beside him all the time... I just wanted to be with him... He changed me! His smile is what saved me! And don't want him to hate me. That is why I'm not afraid to stand for this! Please, I'll pay for it but I…"

"Enough," the boyfriend finally spoke, his voice commanding and clear. He glance at his girlfriend and asked, "Konan, was it Uzumaki the name this girl just said?" Receiving a nod from her, he turned to the teenagers and asked, "Is this Naruto Uzumaki connected to someone who goes by the name of Jiraiya?"

Neither Hinata nor Kiba knew the answer to that one, nor understood why the question was even relevant. But Shino answered with an affirmative, explaining how Naruto was a foster child and Jiraiya his adoptive parent. Kiba just marveled at how Shino would always be very informed about even the most random of facts.

Again, the elegant couple shared a glance before the male closed his eyes and said, "Events always occur without warning. It is only after the fact that the reasons become clear".

"Indeed," the lady now known as Konan affirmed. She took off the necklace and handed it over to Hinata, but not before giving her some words of advice.

"Here, I hope for you this will become the bridge that leads your heart to peace. But remember this is but a mere object. It is up to you to be the support holding that bridge up."

"Keep it," the man said as he led his lady away from the teenagers. "Don't pay us back with money. We won't need it."

They were gone, and the teenagers could only gape as they stared at the necklace. They did it. Hinata did it. This nightmare was finally coming to an end.

Wasting no time they called a cab, a good idea in retrospect because it started to rain heavy just after they climbed the yellow car, and made their way to Naruto's home. Kiba let Hinata know on what floor the apartment was and stayed in the taxi with Shino. This was something Hinata had to do alone. She climbed the stairs, almost tripping twice when it got slippery, but she made it there nonetheless.

The two boys were wandering if everything would turn out okay when they heard something shattering not a minute after. Looking out the window they saw it was Naruto's necklace.

"Stay here," Shino told the other, exiting the cab to collect the shards before climbing the stairs. Eight minutes that felt like an eternity to Kiba passed before his two friends returned to the cab, wet and necklace-less.

"So?" Kiba asked.

"Naruto slipped after Hinata gave him the necklace. It was an accident."

"Yeesh, what a dumbass!" Kiba chuckled. He could imagine the hilarious face Naruto had as he tripped, and the cute pout he would make after. Yet his chuckles came to a halt when Hinata revealed she confessed her feelings to him. He grew angry when he later found out Naruto suddenly lost his voice and didn't accept or reject her feelings.

"You were brave," Shino finally said, giving her a comforting smile. "I don't believe this is the end of it. I'm sure Naruto himself is not sure of what his feelings are right now." He said reminiscing on these last few weeks. "Before Sasuke left, if you asked Naruto he could probably tell you who his best friend was, who the girl he liked was, and what his dream was. I don't believe the Naruto of now could answer those questions with confidence anymore. But your confession might be just what he needed to set himself back on the right track and start finding his new answers."

Kiba and Hinata just sat quietly as their friend spoke, too drained to refute anything, not that they needed to. The words of their friend were actually comforting.

"If Naruto is the one you love I doubt this could be considered a setback". Shino then said, shifting his eyes towards Kiba to say the rest. "Because only those who cannot confess their feeling out loud are the one who will never be able to win the battle".

**-x-x-x-(Next Morning: Homeroom)-x-x-x-**

Homeroom was like everyday living for the student who didn't face a confession the day before. But for those who did, they sat quietly at their desk, not meeting eyes with anyone. It was only a minute before the first period started that Mr. Kakashi Hatake surprised everyone by arriving on time. But the surprised was short-lived because they noticed it was because Mr. Iruka Umino dragged him along. The latter teacher then addressed the class about the issues the seniors of Konoha High were facing, reporting that even after the school dance, those high-schoolers hadn't raised enough funds to fund a prom night outside the school premises. The root of failure was determined to be that they lacked a solid class directive.

Ino, who had been paying attention with vague interest, got alerted after said statement. She felt her pulse quicken, already able to see where Mr. Iruka Umino was going with it.

"So to avoid an event like this from repeating itself, I propose we revise your class electives for class president, vice president, treasurer and secretary." He suggested, "Of course, if the class feels good about their current team, we can leave it as it is. Remember, the people you chose will represent the class for the following years until graduation".

"I nominate myself as class president!" Sakura immediately said, raising her right hand up as she spoke.

"No way," Ino immediately shot back.

"Now, now girls," Mr. Umino said, "remember you can only run for it if someone else nominates you."

"Um," a male student raised his hand to speak, "I actually don't want to be class treasurer anymore. So if someone else wants to take the role then so be it."

"Me, me!" a female student then shot her hand up, "I would like to nominate Ino Yamanaka to remain as class president, and I would like to nominate Sakura Haruno as class treasurer instead of being our current vice-president". After she spoke, other girls also nominated Ino back as class president, all saying she's been doing a great job so far. It kept going like this until Shino raised his hand and said, "I nominate Naruto Uzumaki as class president."

"Huh?" were the response he generally received; even Naruto himself looked shocked at it. So then Shino explained himself. "It's obvious to all of us Naruto Uzumaki's goal is to become president. A challenge like this will do him good. But I nominate him not only because of his goal in life but because I believe he has the ability required to unify the class further."

"I second that motion," Kiba then said, followed by Hinata who smiled at the nominee before speaking. After that, another boy nominated Naruto while another girl nominated Ino. The nominated girl then sent a glare at Choiji and he raised his hand to vote for her. She would have glared at Shikamaru but the boy was fast asleep. Yet when Gaara shocked the class by not only participating but by nominating Naruto as well, Mr. iruka brightened up to the idea to holding up a proper election.

"_This can't be happening,"_ Ino thought as she stared at her now giddy adversary, a nasty sense of realization overtaking her as she did.

Ten years ago she had helped, out of pity, a girl with a big forehead. That girl later tried to match Ino in everything and even tried to upstage her. That girl, after finding out that they just so happened to be crushing on the same boy, spitted on their friendship and went to become her rival for years to come. Ino had sworn to herself she would never go out of her way to help out another pitiful soul. From then on she would look out only for herself, and her selected set of friends.

Ten years later, on the mall's food court, she took pity of a boy who was hopelessly in love with the girl who betrayed her. Ino didn't do it out of spite against Sakura. She helped Naruto only because she pitied him. But just like with Sakura, she ended up befriending, looking after, and even cherishing the person she once pitied. Yet again it would seem like the story was about to repeat itself. The person she aided would again seek to steal what was rightfully hers.

With a heavy heart Ino realized this.

_Naruto was just another Sakura._

"Hey whiskers!" She giggled, making her way to her adversary. The cool ones knew how to mask their emotions and she was no different. At this Shikamaru started to awake and he heard as Ino told Naruto that they should totally do battle for the elections exactly as the politicians did it, with campaigns, propaganda, debates and everything.

He watched as Naruto smiled back and shook hands with Ino, accepting the challenge. A second later Shikamaru realized everything that went on while he slept and sat in shock at the mistake Naruto had just made.

Do as the politicians…?

…

Politicians won by dirtying the name of their opponents.

_**-x-x-x-( End of Chapter Seventeen: "Confession" )-x-x-x-**_

**A/N:** There you go! So many confessions, right? Love interest, diseases, insecurities and resentments. Team 8 dynamic's really was fun to write. Shino Abarume has so much potential personality-wise. I wish people took notice of it more often. Well, with this I end the Mini Shippuden Arc. All that's left in the final one, the "Presidential Arc", as you guys just read, it starts now. Ino vs Naruto here we go! I confess I'm thrilled to finally reveal the reason I handpicked Ino Yamanaka as the final boss against Naruto.

**A/N2:** Does anybody know how the change the flag on my profile? It's bothering me because it says I'm from USA but I'm actually from Puerto Rico.

**A/N3: **Again, I apologize for going three years without an update. Still, I was pleasantly surprised I still kept getting reviews even in my absence. How did my story kept being found, it's a mystery to me. But thank you all. Every time I got one I would try to type some lines in. I'm happy I finally manage to update.


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